


Endure, Survive, Evolve

by Pinkwebby



Category: ARK: Survival Evolved, Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - ARK: Survival Evolved, Alternate Universe - Dinosaurs, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Banter, Battle, Blizzards & Snowstorms, Cold Weather, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cussing, Cute, Danger, Dinosaurs, Final Battle, First Kiss, Flirting, Frostbite, Huddling For Warmth, Kissing, M/M, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Missing Persons, Mystical Creatures, Not Really Character Death, Post-Canon, Raptors, Simulation, Snow and Ice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:29:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27562318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pinkwebby/pseuds/Pinkwebby
Summary: Don't ask Gavin how he and most of the DPD got thrown into a simulation. He wouldn't be able to tell you.
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 11
Kudos: 62
Collections: Reed900 Reverse Big Bang





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! This is my contribution to the Reed900 RBB! Been a while in the making and I'm so excited to share this with you guys! Ark: Survival Evolved is one of my favorite games, with nearly 1,400 hours under my belt on the shitty game! I worked with Clovergreen to create something amazing and this is the product! 
> 
> Thank you once again to the wonderful MechanicalBones for beta'ing this fic! You are just so so amazing and I love you! [Mechabones' tumblr!](https://mechabones.tumblr.com/). Also give me a follow over on tumblr as well, I've opened up writing commission because I'm in desperate need of money! [My tumblr!](https://pinkwebby.tumblr.com/post/633070523484717056/name-your-price-writing-commissions)

### The beginning

“I’m too close to this case, Fowler. Why the hell are you giving it to me?” Gavin’s voice was beyond tired. And if that wasn’t enough, he didn’t just appear exhausted, he felt it too. Every single bone in his body ached, begging him to stay in bed that morning. If he were a weaker man, if he loved himself a little more, perhaps he would have given in to that urge to sleep the day off.

“I don’t have anyone else, Reed. Almost every single human and android in the DPD have gone on leave to save themselves. We have no detectives left, and no leads on this case. It has to be you, you’re the only one left. I’m sorry,” Fowler explained to him in a sympathetic voice.

“I could do it too, ya know. Go on leave or quit. Every single god-damn person who’s taken this case has disappeared without a trace. Hank, Connor, Sixty, Tina, Chris, and-” his voice caught in his throat and he couldn’t finish the sentence. Trying to keep some control on his raging emotions, Gavin drew in a deep breath.

“We both know you won’t do that. You want to know what happened to them, even if it means you die trying. I know you, Gavin. And I promise you, I’m working tirelessly to help. But if you want to find Nines, then you have to work with me. I’m begging you.” Gavin could practically hear the plea in his voice.

Gavin’s hands curled into fists at his side and his lips formed a tight line as Fowler slid over a data-pad to him, “Just look at what we have. _Please_.”

He silently stared down at the data-pad with his heart hammering in his chest as he considered his options. 

He could decline and get the hell out of there before he became this killer’s next target. They had no evidence, no trace of anything. Everyone’s homes were clean, not a single thing out of place. No signs of a break-in, no struggle. 

But they were all gone. 

Almost every single detective of the DPD. Missing.

But as much as he wanted to tell Fowler that he wouldn’t do it, something stopped him. 

And he knew exactly what it was. Well, _who_ it was.

 _Nines_. 

They had been dating for almost a year now, and he was the first to disappear along with Sixty and Connor. The androids first, as if the perp knew that they could solve the case easier than any human could.

Gavin swiped the data-pad off Fowler’s desk and turned away from him before the older man could give him that sympathetic look. Sympathy didn’t help any of his friends, and it surely didn’t help Gavin either. He knew that he was falling right into a trap, like a sick game of cat and mouse. He would probably never win, but he had to _try_. 

For Nines. For Connor. For Hank. For Tina. For all of them.

“Thank you, Gavin,” Fowler murmured as he left. Gavin simply gave him a silent salute before he went back to his desk within the empty bullpen. 

The work felt useless. The more he went over the minimal case files and reports, the more frustrated he got. There was nothing, no shred of anything. All of their reports were irritatingly vague, because the crime scenes were always devoid of anything. 

They didn’t even know where a lot of the victims- _fuck_ ; he hated calling his co-workers victims- had been taken from. No one had seen anything. The only thing that had been reported was that Hank’s neighbor had seen a bright teal light in his house, but she couldn’t tell if it had been his TV.

Gavin had been sleeping over at Nines’ apartment while he’d been missing. It was the scent of him, it lingered as though even his place mourned the loss of him. He decided not to stay over there that night. He went by to pick up Duchess, but only because he wasn’t sure if he would get to stay over at Nines’ apartment for much longer as he would have to use it for his investigation.

“Delilah, play nice with Duchess, you little shit,” he called out as he let the Persian cat out of her carrier.

Gavin spent the rest of the night going over all the reports that had been made about the disappearances. How they were only police officers and detectives, no civilians had disappeared mysteriously as of yet. He didn’t understand how the perp could kidnap three androids in the span of three days. 

Especially of the RK line. 

Highly trained, top-of-the-line models that could probably snap Gavin in half if he even tried to lay a hand on them. No one just couldn’t get the drop on them, ever. _He's fucking tried before_. 

So what the hell happened?

By the time Gavin decided to give up for the night, it was already four in the morning. He had hit a brick wall, and he finally understood what Hank had been complaining about when he got the case. He had planned on helping the lieutenant with it in the beginning, but Fowler told him he didn’t need two crazed detectives looking for their boyfriends. That one was enough.

And now he didn’t have a choice.

Gavin could feel his exhaustion rush over him like the tide when he approached his unkempt bed. His place didn’t smell like Nines, it didn’t reek of fancy cologne and fabric softener that clung to the android wherever he went.

Gavin found that he missed that scent more than anything. And he wished desperately to have it back. To have his boyfriend back. 

He just wanted him back. Them _all_ back.

Tears rushed to his eyes, but he furiously wiped them away. Nines would always tell him it was okay to cry, but now it didn’t feel right. He missed the android so fucking much. He yearned for Nines to come home and hold him as they fell asleep together. To sink into that warm embrace and sleep for more than five hours at a time. 

He climbed into bed and sank down into the memory foam with little thought to his position. He knew he wouldn’t get much more sleep than a few hours, if he was lucky. It didn’t matter if he was in an uncomfortable position. Exhaustion always won out, even if it was a fitful sleep.

Gavin reached over and took a hold of Nines’ pillow, the one he left at Gavin’s place as an excuse to sleep over at night. It wasn’t the android himself, but it was something. Hands clutched at the pillow-case as he inhaled. He didn’t feel at peace, but for a few measly minutes, it felt like he had Nines back with him.

Nothing was different, he went to sleep and didn’t feel a single thing happen to him. With Gavin being such a light sleeper, he would’ve known if someone tried to grab him in the night. He had his gun under his pillow for moments like that. 

And yet…

~

“Hey you, you’re finally awake!” A chipper Australian voice chirped.

Gavin groaned and reached his hand up to rub at his head.

“Oi! watch where you’re swinging that thing!”

Startled at the voice in his ear, Gavin practically leaped up into a sitting position. He squinted at his surroundings and his mind immediately went blank. Where the _fuck_ -

“Welcome to the Genesis simulation! Here you’ll be tested across five biomes, each with its own dangers- and rewards.” 

Gavin blinked blearily before he realized that the person who had been speaking was in fact not a person at all. But a tiny looking android- no, fuck, robot- near his face. The fuck was an android? 

His brain was fucking malfunctioning.

He rubbed his eyes furiously as he tried to gather his thoughts. How the fuck did he even get here? Who even was he? His name was Gavin Reed. But how did he get into a _simulation_? What the fuck did he do? 

His brain was frustratingly empty, not a single memory laid within his head. It was enough to make him slam his hand down on his thigh with a groan.

“I don’t fucking understand, why am I here?!” He yelled at no one in particular.

“Don’t worry! I’ll be with you every step of the way! Interact with me when you want to teleport from one biome to another, or when you want to spend some of the hexagons you’ll earn for completing missions.” The robot was still speaking to him, her words falling on deaf ears at this point because Gavin was far too busy freaking out.

If he couldn’t remember anything, if he was stuck in a simulation, did that mean he willingly put himself in this position? Did he not want his memories and decide to become a clean slate so he could live out some kind of fantasy on a… deserted island?

He stood up on trembling legs and peered around. Out of all the things he expected to see, it was not this. He was clearly on an island of some sort, with miles and miles of crystal clear ocean spanning across his vision. Only a few tall, rocky outcroppings poked out of the water. There was no way he’d been swimming over to those unless he did rock-climbing in his past life.

“By the way-” the bot went on like she didn’t notice that Gavin was having an existential crisis currently, “-those missions I was talking about? Those are how the simulation tests you- How you prove you’re the ultimate survivor. First, though, we have some exploring ahead of us. Ready to go on a walkabout?”

The small robot was much too enthusiastic considering Gavin was having one hell of an internal panic attack.

Gavin stared at the small, hovering robot like the thing was fucking crazy. The different colored lights of it reminded him of something that made his chest hurt, but he couldn’t figure out why. 

He stretched out his back until it popped and he shook his head, “I ain’t going anywhere, whatever your name is. This island looks safe enough.”

“That’s… not how this works, Gavin. And my name is HLNA! The only way you’re going to get out of this simulation is to do the missions and defeat the final boss! Don’t you want to get out of here?”

“I don’t even know how I got in here!” Irritation flared and Gavin couldn’t stop the snarl from leaving his mouth. “I don’t have my fucking memories, I don’t even know where this is, or what to do! And do I look like I could defeat a final boss?!”

“But you’d have help, there are others within the simulation, people you can team up with!”

“I’m not dying just to get out of here, whatever the fuck your name is. My life ain’t worth that shit.”

“That’s why it’s a simulation! You _can’t_ die here, the overseer will bring you back to life. Even if there are… side effects.”

“Side effects?! What kind of fucking side effects?!” Gavin couldn’t keep the fear out of his voice. He was immortal, he couldn’t fucking die. It was like he was in a video game, yet it felt so realistic. There wasn’t a single flaw, all the way down to how his skin looked in the sunlight.

Before the thing could explain more in depth, something appeared right before his eyes in the ocean. And it was close too. Gavin’s eyes widened as a creature at least ten times the size of him surfaced from the ocean. He couldn’t see its complete face, but it had to be at least as big as a fucking semi-truck with cargo loaded on it. Probably fucking bigger. 

A dark, dilated eye and a row of razor-sharp teeth poked out from the water. The worst part? He swore he could see mechanical armor on it. Blue plates rose from its back that surely were not natural at all. They were glowing, for fuck's sake! And Gavin swore on everything that was holy that he was going to pass out.

That thing could swallow him whole without chewing. And he would only be a fucking snack!

As he surveyed the entire thing’s body, his eyes pinpointed something protruding on its back. A large ass saddle and a person laying on said saddle. Leather straps crisscrossed over the creature’s side and went underneath the surface of the water. How long did it take to make a saddle like that?

Another beast appeared from the depths, this time smaller, but just as terrifying. Gavin fell on his butt and slowly backed away on all fours. The other thing looked like a fish, but its skull was on the outside of its head! 

And there was some OLD GUY RIDING IT. _What the fuck-_

Gavin watched with wide eyes as more creatures popped up out of the water. Though there was one guy riding what appeared to be an angler fish and holy fuck, that was hilarious. It didn’t detract from the whole point of that most of those creatures couldn’t be real. It was like nothing he’d ever seen before.

“They are fighting Moeder! Oh, you get to see what one of the bosses looks like!” HLNA explained to him excitedly.

“A… boss? Like in a video game?! In the ocean?!” _Was nowhere sacred?_

Just as he said that, the water became murky around the people out in the ocean. Gavin could hear one of them shouting something, but all his attention became focused on the massive monster that lunged from the water. All the smaller creatures scattered and gun-fire ensued.

“What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck!” Gavin whisper-yelled as he scrambled to his feet. That thing was bigger than all of the beasts that those people were riding combined! It was bigger than the fucking island he stood on! 

His heart slammed against his ribcage as balls of light flew from the giant- God he didn’t know. Was it an eel? Jesus Christ. 

Gavin felt like he was going to puke.

The balls of light zoom past him and as one went directly over his head, he could feel the electricity from it all the way down to his toes. If that had hit him, he would’ve been fried. Dead. Gone. Wait, was the robot telling the truth when she said he couldn’t die?

The tingling sensation zapped through his spine and he ducked his head with a terrified, closed-mouth scream.

Just as it appeared, its entire body flopped back into the ocean. But that couldn’t be right… They couldn’t have killed it. There was no way…

Once they finished whatever the hell they were doing, of course they had to dock on Gavin’s island. With a stricken look, the confused detective looked around wildly to find a place to hide. If they saw him, they would probably kill him on sight. They just killed a gigantic fucking eel! Not to mention that he was easy-pickings if they laid eyes on him. 

Gavin prayed that the stupid bot hovering over him wouldn’t say a word as he willed his feet to move. 

God, he didn’t want to fucking die, not yet. Not when he didn’t even know why he was here. The pathetic part was that his life couldn’t flash before his eyes, because he couldn’t even remember it. 

He wondered vaguely if these other people could remember who they were before it threw them into this simulation.

Gavin slipped on the grass underneath his bare feet as he finally ran for cover. He nearly went down as he scrambled his way over to a large rock to hide behind it. 

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. They didn’t see him, right?

“Who are they?!” He whispered to HLNA.

“They are a tribe within this simulation, one of the more advanced ones it seems. I have little in my database about specific tribes within the simulation, mate. I’m sorry.”

“Pipe the fuck down, will you? If they hear you, I’m toast!” Gavin hissed at her before he poked his head up to peer at the new-comers.

He could hear them talking, but he couldn’t make out the words. God, he wished he could read lips. He just wanted to know if they saw him, to make sure they didn’t just shoot him instantly. As he scanned over them, his eyes landed on a particular guy and his heart raced harder than usual.

Gavin didn’t understand why, he looked the same as the two other idiots standing next to him. Must be triplets or something like that. Even if he was a head taller out of all of them. Gavin wanted to slam his head against the rock he leaned against out of frustration. He knew all of them from somewhere, but his fucking memory loss had to make everything so much harder.

Maybe he owed them money.

Maybe they wanted to kill him in his past life.

He was fucked. Royally fucked. What if these people knew him? Could they tell who he was? Or would they kill him on sight?

While he was lost in thought, something bright green flashed above his head in an arcing motion. Like little green particles. He watched in awe as they grew brighter and brighter until a flash of light blinded him. 

That’s it, he’s dead. They used some kind of flash grenade on him, and now they were going to shoot him. Gavin couldn’t hear anything over the sound of blood rushing in his ears. The sound of his own heartbeat was not the most pleasant sound as the light dissipated.

Gavin slowly opened his eyes with a squint. Everything was so fucking dark, a drastic change from the sunny beach he’d been on mere moments before. This… can’t be right. He was just on the beach two seconds ago. As he sat in a pool of mud in what appeared to be a rather dank swamp, he remembered what HLNA told him mere moments before. 

She could teleport him.

“ _Oh fuck_.”


	2. The Bog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin isn't enjoying his time in this simulation. Especially in the swamp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 2! So excited for you guys to read!

### 

The Bog:

“Fuck,” Gavin cursed for what felt like the millionth time that day. 

His hands were sore, so fucking sore. Cracked, bleeding knuckles and calloused fingertips. Creating tools was a hell of a lot harder than he had been expecting. He kept cutting himself on flint and stone as he tried to make a simple axe and pickaxe. Even a spear proved too hard for his trembling fingers.

His work was crude, but he could at least craft a weapon to keep himself safe and build a small shack to keep away from the elements. It was so fucking hot and muggy in the swamp, but Gavin was too stubborn to ask HLNA to teleport him back to the ocean. 

He was determined to live in the fucking swamp. If those other people could do it, then so could he.

Since that first day he got to- wherever he was, he hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the other tribe. Not that he could complain about that, when he wasn’t sure if their intentions were good or bad. So he just stuck to himself, and boy was the fucking swamp dangerous.

Raptors had been his problem recently, as they interested him a ton. They were fast and could kill things quickly with effortless efficiency. That was a creature that Gavin needed.

He desperately wanted one. He wanted to make friends with one like that tribe did with those underwater creatures. He didn’t know how to at first, but HLNA became rather helpful in that regard.

Without the little robot at his side, he probably would’ve died a lot more than he did. Though the first raptor he got was a little unsavory. Bit his arm as he shot a few tranquilizing arrows into its ass. It also tried to maul his face off before he threw a bola at it and got it tangled up in it.

Of course, blood loss was a fucking thing and Gavin ended up bleeding out on the ground when the raptor got knocked out by the narcotics he applied to his arrows. 

But just like HLNA said, he couldn’t fucking die.

Respawning was like waking up from a nightmare. Something out of your control. 

All the pain disappeared like it hadn’t even been a real or feasible thing. Which Gavin supposed, technically it wasn’t. None of this was real, no matter how realistic it felt. Each death Gavin faced left him curled up in a ball on his bed made of wood and straw, trying to comprehend what happened. 

Sometimes, he would cry. Sometimes, he would rock back and forth. Other times? He was utterly numb. And sometimes, on the rare occasion that he wasn’t overwhelmed with survival instincts, he wondered if the others were as jarred by respawning as he was.

Whoever made this simulation was a fucking cock-sucker. To feel the pain of death every time he died was a dick move. Because that feeling was the worst in the world. Like the icy hands of darkness were just clawing at his skin. And it wouldn’t release until he started moving his limbs again after he respawned.

Not to mention the sheer amount of fucking monstrous creatures hell-bent on murdering him whenever he left his shack. Or even while he was in his shack. They tried to destroy it on multiple occasions. Even the bugs were deadly.

Everything wanted him fucking dead & he wouldn’t even stay dead when they caught up to him.

After Gavin had tamed his first raptor, it became apparent that he would need something that was stronger, because after making it a saddle and running around the swamp for a few moments, he got lunged at by a crocodile. His raptor got swarmed by the things while Gavin died and respawned at home. 

It hadn’t been too heartbreaking because he barely had the thing for any more than ten minutes, but he couldn’t get out of bed for the next day because of how traumatizing it had been. Sobs echoed through his empty hut and wracked his body, which felt paralyzed. 

The next time he tamed a raptor, he found her in the swamp as well. But she was different, made of metal and mechanical parts. Green, silver, and black, she almost blended into the environment if the lights on her body didn’t give her away.

When he finally tamed her, he decided on the name Delilah. He didn’t understand where he got the idea from, but the name brought a warm feeling to him. He just knew he had known someone or something named Delilah in his previous life.

After he got Delilah, things were easier, better. He didn’t feel as alone; he felt like he could actually do things besides hide in his shack. Delilah was fierce, she didn’t take as much damage as his original raptor did thanks to her metal exterior. Gavin just had to clean her up after every fight and she was right as rain. It felt good to have company, something competent at his side. 

Maybe he had been a very social person when he didn’t live in the simulation. The loneliness that crawled into his heart left him feeling cold and empty most days. To feel every single death certainly didn’t help. He wanted to become stronger, to not rely on his raptor to keep him alive. 

Was that too much to ask for?

After he got Delilah, he learnt that he could tame more raptors. He had an easier time when she’d take the lead and he’d just shoot arrows at them. He could garner up a decent size pack of raptors that followed his command. He liked how loyal and fierce they were. 

Once he had protection, he was more than capable of going out and exploring. Maybe finding a place to build a home and settle down. He would most likely be in this place for the long haul. There was no way in hell he could ever defeat a ‘final boss’ all by himself. And those other tribes… he really had that sinking feeling they would shoot him on sight.

“Wow, this place is fucking huge,” Gavin murmured in awe. He was talking to Delilah when he said it. He wasn’t even sure she could understand him, but the way she snorted and reared her head back meant that she at least could concur. People said raptors were extremely intelligent. 

He had accidentally stumbled upon a biome he hadn’t been in yet. 

When he and Delilah had been running by, the glowing trees and flora attracted his attention. He rarely stopped around that area, as many of the crocs liked to spend time around there. But Gavin was curious, curious about why the trees glowed. About how.

As he neared one of the large trees, he could see they had gigantic mushrooms growing on the sides. He rubbed his chin and heard Delilah make an unsettled noise. He quickly patted her metallic neck to soothe her. Clearly, she didn’t like this place. Gavin found the plants rather cool and contemplated taking some home. If he could make a vase, he could keep them in his house. It would make it… homier.

But if Delilah had a bad feeling about this place, then he wouldn’t want to stick around for long. 

“You see any bug swarms, girl?” He questioned quickly as he directed her to move towards where they had come from. He didn’t have any fire handy and if a swarm of bugs attacked him, he would be shit out of luck. He would probably die and have to haul ass back to find Delilah. And he _really_ didn’t want to lose her. Gavin had grown attached to her. More than he’d like to admit. She was his rock in the choppy sea that was this fucking simulation. Without her, he would have likely drowned.

The thing is, when you aren’t paying attention in the simulation, bad things happen. And Gavin was so concentrated on the glowing flora, plus getting out of there, that he didn’t notice that he was being watched. 

As soon as Delilah started to move, something extremely sticky wrapped around his midsection. His first panicked thought was that they upset a frog, and maybe it had its tongue around him. Which both terrified and disgusted him, ‘cause the big shits could knock his ass out with the narcotics on their tongue. 

But Gavin was instead yanked off Delilah like he weighed nothing, so his next thought was that he accidentally stumbled into a fucking trap, only for an enemy tribe to kill him. He struggled in the grasp of the sticky rope and clawed at it with bloody fingers. He turned his head towards the raptor it dragged him off and he could see her trying to reach him to no avail.

When he pressed his palm into the thing wrapped around him, he realized with a start that it was fucking _webbing_. Like from a spider. Gavin let out a yell and tried to pull his spear from where it was strapped to his back. The webbing tightened around him enough to make his lungs ache from the pressure. He let out a silent scream and thrashed around wildly in its grip.

He didn’t want to die. 

Not again.

But he couldn’t even reach his damn spear, he couldn’t cut the webs off his body and he certainly couldn’t survive a fall from that high up. It practically had him up in leaves of the tall-ass trees. He could see everything from up there, including his own little squat, not too far away.

He was fucking helpless, no one could help him. Not even himself. How could he ever survive out here when everything wanted to kill him?! Including things he couldn’t even fucking see?!

As Gavin’s body finally came to a stop, he tried to look over his shoulder at what reeled him in to begin with. But something sharp sunk into the back of his neck, like a mosquito bite. Only ten times worse. He let out another yell, this one a lot weaker. 

God, he felt so tired… tired of being here, tired of living. He could just… let this thing drink him dry. That’s clearly what it was doing. Drinking his blood and getting fat off of him. He feebly tried to pull his neck away, but that only elevated the pain. 

He was such a fucking fool, there was no way in hell he’d ever survive out here. Gavin couldn’t even keep himself safe. How could a small pack of raptors even do that? 

It was getting harder to blink, his eyelids felt so heavy. He could barely keep them open as he hung limply in the grasp of whatever sucked out his life force. Gavin groaned and just wished the pain would stop. He just wished everything would stop. He didn’t want to be here anymore.

He was fucking _exhausted_.

He closed his eyes and let the sweet relief of darkness take him.

~

Few people screamed while in the swamp. Most of Niles’ tribe found it more acceptable to be as quiet as possible when they traversed the dangerous biome. Few things were loud in the swamp, everything attacked silently.

So a scream like that? One that sounded so human, so _terrified_ , that it sent a shiver down Niles’ spine? He had to find the source. Because they were likely in trouble, and he wasn’t one to let another human being suffer like that. 

He knew how it felt to die and come back. It was one of the worst feelings one could ever fathom. Like an ice water down your spine, but it would never go away. A constant feeling that you couldn’t shake.

Not wanting to scare the person, he decided it would be best to travel using his tek armor. Jetpacks and jump boots made for easy travel instead of trying to wrangle one of his creatures to go with him. Besides, it was less likely that they would die as well. If he heard correctly, the person was most likely somewhere in the canopy. And _that_ was a dangerous place to be. Even for the most vigilant.

Niles headed towards the sound and soon came across the scene. With his enhanced vision, he could barely make out a bloodstalker in one tree. Way above the rest of them, clearly feasting on something. It wasn’t often that something small enough to be picked up by those spindly creatures would roam in here. 

Only an idiot would come into the canopy unprotected.

He flew up there and immediately noticed that it was indeed a human male. His scan told him that man’s name was Gavin Reed, though the rest of the information was blotted out, just like whenever he scanned one of his tribe-mates.

Gavin Reed.

_Gavin Reed._

Gavin...

Niles aimed his pulse rifle at the bloodstalker’s beady little red eyes that focused upon him. He needed to kill it to get it to release the man. Bloodstalkers weren’t worth anything anyway, mobility could be acquired a different way. A less dangerous way.

As he did so, it was like the creature grew a conscious last second. Niles’ finger was squeezing the trigger, almost enough to shoot it. Those unfocused red eyes grew sharper, clearer. Almost as though it knew the danger it was in. 

Niles prepared for it to lunge at him, but instead it merely lowered itself and Gavin down onto a tree branch. It untangled the man from its webbing and laid him almost gently onto the thick branch.

“He had enough blood to tame it,” Niles muttered in awe as his blue eyes focused on the limp body presented to him. The bloodstalker looked remorseful, at least. And it now had a new master.

He contemplated leaving the man here. He was safe with a bloodstalker to guard him. But he couldn’t do it in good conscience. Even if the man grew hostile, they could neutralize him safely and efficiently. But with the scraggly clothes he wore and the dry blood under his nails and on his clothes were any indication, he would not be a threat.

After tucking his rifle onto his back, Niles hesitantly reached down and collected the man’s unconscious body, noting how skinny and emaciated he felt against him. He could invite him to join his tribe. He didn’t know Gavin at all, but just holding him in his arms made his heart thump hard against his chest. 

Perhaps they knew one another?

In another life?

Or was that just wishful thinking?

~

Usually when Gavin died, he expected to come back quickly. That icy feeling would grip onto his creaky bones until he decided to move around. Which sometimes took a long while when his brain refused to fucking work. 

But something was different. When Gavin woke up, he realized that above him was not the shabby wood of his hut. Above him was metal, cool and hard. _Oh god_ , where was he? Did they finally grow tired of him dying in the simulation and dragged him out?

He sat up with lightning quick speed causing nausea to instantly roll over him. He pressed an arm to his stomach and shook his head with a groan. The whole place stunk like sulfur, a putrid smell that made his nausea even worse. Gavin gagged and tried his hardest to hold in what little he ate for breakfast.

“You should put your head between your legs, it will help,” HLNA offered out in a sympathetic tone. How a little bot like her could sound like that was beyond him.

“What the fuck happened?” He ground out as he did what she advised. He felt a little better at least, but he still did not understand where he was. If HLNA was there, then he still had to be in the goddamn simulation.

He groggily rolled his tense shoulders and took in another steady breath through his mouth instead of his nose.

“You got nabbed by a bloodstalker. Nasty things, they like to suck the blood out of anything they can get their tentacles on,” she explained as Gavin slowly stood up. 

He wavered for a second before his stomach settled. Gavin forced his legs to move. This house was a hell of a lot nicer than his, that’s for sure. There were storage boxes lined up on the farthest wall, probably stacked to the brim with materials Gavin could use to make better equipment. 

His mouth practically watered at the thought as his hands itched to rifle through the materials that this person no doubt had in their arsenal. Enough items to kill anything that threatened Gavin.

Perhaps he would be able to survive for longer. To not live, die, repeat.

As he stepped towards the storage, he heard metal scrape against metal and he instantly jumped back like he’d been burned. His muscles ached in protest and he nearly toppled over onto the floor. Gavin looked up at the person who came in and his heart pounded in his chest so loud he swore the other could probably hear it.

“How are you feeling?” He asked with a crooked grin that seemed so familiar, yet so foreign all rolled into one.

“Uh... good. Yeah, great actually. Pretty phckin’ fantastic!” He babbled out like an idiot. 

_God, please someone save me from this fresh hell._

This guy must’ve saved his life and there he was, acting like a dumbass in front of him. And probably making the worst impression.

“That’s good to hear, but you should drink this anyway. It will get you back to full strength.” His smile melted into an amused one, and Gavin could feel the blush rise in his cheeks. 

_Yep, good going, he thinks you’re a fucking moron._

The man produced a bottle of wine-red liquid from the utility belt he wore. Gavin eyed it warily before his grey eyes flicked up to that ruggedly handsome face. He looked trustworthy enough and if he wanted him dead, he would’ve done it while he was passed out. So, Gavin reached out with a shaky hand and swiped it from him.

“What the hell is it?” He questioned as he popped the cork off. Gavin then drank it without an answer anyway. It was bitter as fuck, and it burned going down his throat as if it were real fucking wine, causing him to gag and nearly throw it back up.

“Medical brew. It will help your wounds to heal faster and get your blood pumping again,” the man offered with a shake of his head and a chuckle. A single curl popped out of place on top of his head and laid against his forehead. 

And it was damn adorable. Unfair.

“I’m uh... Gavin, by the way. You must be from a tribe?” He asked tentatively.

“My name is Niles, and I am,” He moved over to his storage boxes and opened one to pull out a set of shiny metal armor. Gavin eyed it like a man who hadn’t eaten in weeks. What he wouldn’t give to have protection like that. 

Like Delilah.

Fuck, _Delilah!_

“Oh shit. Please tell me you saw a metal raptor out there when you saved me. She’s green, black, and silver-”

“Yes, I did. She took a nice bite out of my armor when she saw me approach with your limp body. She seems very protective.” Niles showed off his tek armor, which had sizable teeth punctures in the arm.

Gavin grinned proudly, “that’s my girl.”

“This is for you,” Niles offered the armor out to him to which Gavin narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. 

“Why are you helping me?”

“I want you to join our tribe. You seem capable enough and I could- I mean, we could protect you,” he cleared his throat.

Gavin waved his hand with a noncommittal shrug, “Eh, I don’t join tribes. I enjoy being on my own.”

“But without help, you will just keep dying,” Niles stated rather bluntly, and for some reason it felt like a slap in the face. Gavin haughtily grabbed the armor from him and upturned his nose.

“Listen, I don’t need help from assholes like you. So I’ll graciously accept your gifts, but I don’t need anymore from ya.” Gavin put the armor on over his ratty clothes and equipped the new weapons Niles’ had given him. 

Once he stuffed himself into the clunky armor, Gavin made his way towards the door. But an outstretched arm stopped him. He glared over at Niles and cocked an eyebrow. He hated that the guy was so fucking attractive.

Though his attention was quickly drawn to the fuzzy beast currently residing on the man’s shoulder. What the fuck was that thing?

He didn’t dwell on it long as Niles began to speak.

“There is another thing-” he paused briefly, “-the creature that had captured you? Well... you tamed it. With your blood.”

“Jesus Christ,” Gavin muttered before he pushed past the arm holding him back and went outside. Once out there, he saw Delilah and he instantly smiled as he started towards her. But he stopped uncertainly when he saw the ugly-ass, spindly mother-fucker standing above her.

“That’s it, it’s called a bloodstalker,” Niles explained as they both approached. As soon as his raptor saw him, she nuzzled her cold muzzle against his cheek and neck. Gavin chuckled and pet her head, careful not to impale his gloved hand on her spikes.

“Hey, girl, did you miss me? ‘M Sorry I got us into trouble,” he murmured to her softly. 

Delilah nipped at his chin affectionately, making a chirping noise before she turned her head up to the bloodstalker above her. As if she were skeptical about it as well.

Gavin moved past her to stare up at the creature. He noted that Delilah was right on his tail as he waved awkwardly at the spider-like creature standing tall above him.

It really reminded him of a spider, if it were mixed with an octopus. Long, tentacle-like appendages held it tall, but they also had weird flaps attached to the inner part of the tentacles, like it could glide on them. While smaller, mantis-like arms were huddled against its gross body. This one was a strange dark blue color with a little grey mingled in. Four bright red eyes stared at him with some semblance of intelligence.

Like enough intelligence to fucking wave back at him.

“What the actual fuck?” He uttered as Niles laughed.

“He likes you,” Niles told him with a soft smile.

“He’s fugly, that’s for sure. But in a cute way.”

“Then you match, don’t you?” Niles teased him, and Gavin let out a mock laugh.

“Harhar, you’re hilarious. Better watch your back tonight. Might come back and use these nice weapons you got me to stab right through it.”

“I am hardly scared, but that does beg the question,” Niles tilted his head with that crooked smile, “Can I see you again?”

Gavin gave him a bewildered expression, “ _You_ want to see _me_ again? You sure you’re alright? I just threatened to stab you.”

“100% positive, Detec-... Gavin. I would like to see you again.”

Gavin decided not to give him a straight answer, instead opting to look up at his new bloodstalker with a grin.

“What do you think about Captain Sucky as a name?” He questioned the thing, even though he knew it couldn’t answer.

“I think one resident here would not like that name at all,” Niles butted in and Gavin snorted.

“Listen, thanks for everything, and thanks for saving me. I really appreciate it. Maybe I’ll see ya around, alright?” Gavin gave him a grin before he hopped on Delilah. He whistled for Captain Sucky to follow him and took off towards his hut. 

As he looked back, he could see the lone figure of Niles watching him go.

Gavin just couldn’t figure out why he already liked the guy so much. Maybe it was just because he was nice to him and didn’t murder him on the spot? Guess it didn’t matter now, he probably ruined his only chance to see him again by not giving him that answer.

“I think we’re gonna move, girl,” he said to Delilah, patting her neck, “What do you think about the ocean?”


	3. The Ocean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad you guys are liking this! You all make me so happy with your comments, so keep sending them cause it warms my heart. I was worried about this fic not being extremely popular cause not many play ark so I am so thankful for you guys who read it. Also the art for the fic will be shown next chapter, done by CloverGreen! Super excited for that!

### The Ocean

“Quit yer fuckin’ squirming!” Gavin huffed at the raptor in front of him, “it’s your fault for getting too close to that porcupine looking motherfucker. Lucky it didn’t steal the saddle off yer back.” He gently grabbed a hold of the spines that had been lodged in the raptor’s snout and quickly yanked them out.

The raptor let out a low growl that rapidly devolved into a whine. Gavin sighed and discarded the spines into the ocean before petting the raptor with a sympathetic look, “gotta be more careful. I know there isn’t much here, but even the smallest things can be dangerous. You’re lucky they weren’t poisoned or anything.”

Perhaps he should take his own advice. He really should be more careful too, especially after what happened with Captain Sucky.

With creatures in this place, he wouldn’t be surprised that even an insignificant creature such as a ‘pegomastax’ was extremely dangerous. Though the only thing that little rat bastard did was steal the shirt off his back and run away with a noise that reminded Gavin of tittering.

He hated those little shits.

Thankfully, Gavin didn’t see too many dangerous creatures on his island in the ocean, especially in comparison to the swamp. The islands and natural pillars within the ocean biome were a hell of a lot safer than his small shack in the bog.

He spent his day swinging around on Captain Sucky, collecting resources and avoiding the actual ocean like the fucking plague. He knew what came out of there. 

He knew what creatures it held.

It was so much more dangerous than the bog, tenfold. So for now, he stayed on his island, on land, where he felt safest. Thanks to that, he didn’t die half as much as he did when he was back near the swamps. That alone was enough to steer his mental health back into the right direction.

Gavin felt more at ease where he was now, never saw hide nor hair of anything relatively dangerous. No raptors, no crocodiles or frogs. Just dodos and those little fat dinosaurs that were called lystrosaurus. Very cute, and they snorted like pigs. 

And they liked pets.

It was sometime during his expeditions to the top of one of the large pillars for resources that he noticed something bubbling in the water. From afar it looked like a small island made of dark rock, but when he steered Captain Sucky to land on it, he realized it was moving. 

Nervous at what he had landed on, Gavin had run away. There was no fucking way he’d let anything that had an entire island on its back be anywhere near him. It could swallow him whole without remorse.

And he was just about getting used to this whole, not dying on repeat thing.

When he got back to base though, he saw that the creature had moved a lot closer to his island than he had initially realized, leaving him ready to pack up everything and leave; terrified the thing might come up on land and crush his raptors or his base. 

But that’s when he noticed what the thing was. A giant ass turtle. It didn’t look that scary when Gavin actually studied it. If anything, it looked rather sad. During the night, when Gavin sat by his fire and cooked meat for himself, he could see her. At least he decided that it was a she.

And she really did look sad, lonely. For some reason the turtle reminded him of himself. 

Deep down, Gavin knew how lonely he really was, how that felt. It hurt, perhaps more than he’d like to admit and it wasn’t really fair for anything else to feel like that. He wouldn’t wish loneliness upon anybody.

Those big brown eyes softened him up until about a week later he decided he would try to befriend her. It couldn’t be too hard, right? A giant turtle that swam around in the ocean where all the dangerous shit was?

Okay, maybe he needed some help.

“HLNA, could you send a message to Nines please?” He asked as he basked in the warm glow of the sun. Could he even get a suntan in a simulation? Didn’t matter, he would at least try.

“I’m sorry, did you mean Niles?” HLNA responded kindly, to which Gavin squinted at her. Did he not say Niles? 

“The fuck did I say?”

“You said Nines. But there is no survivor named that within the simulation. Only Niles.” She told him, her little robotic ears perking up. Gavin found it kind of cute.

“Shit, sorry. Don’t know where that came from. Yeah… Uh, send a message to Niles. Tell ‘em I need some help with something. I don’t know if he’ll respond, but-” He wrung his hands together with a sigh. He was an asshole the last time they met, even though the guy saved his skin. Gavin owed him, and yet he practically yelled in his face. 

It wasn’t the best first impression. Then again, he had a small feeling he was never too good at those anyway.

“He said he will teleport over,” HLNA responded right as Gavin heard the telltale noise of someone teleporting. Gavin hadn’t built on the teleportation sight, but on the island across from it. So he got a full view of Niles using his jet-pack to cruise over. He watched with awe as Niles landed in front of him and removed his helmet.

“You said you needed help with something?” He questioned calmly as he mussed his hair and tossed his helmet onto the ground. That helmet was probably worth more than Gavin himself, and Niles just casually tossed it onto the grass below him. Typical.

Gavin jerked his head towards the other side of the island, “here, lemme show you.” With that, he stood up and jogged towards where he last saw her. Niles followed slowly behind and peered out into the ocean with Gavin.

“You see her? You can’t really miss her, I guess.”

“I see nothing,” Niles commented as he stared directly at the turtle.

“The big ass turtle, you dumbass! Fuckin’ hell, I want to tame the turtle!” Gavin groused as he shook his head. God, the thing was right there. How could Niles not see it? The giant island floating in the water was kind of hard to miss!

“Oh, the megachelon. Quite frankly, when you called me over, I thought we were to tame you something like a megalodon or perhaps even a plesiosaur.”

“All that shit you just said to me? I have no idea what that is. I don’t go in the ocean, Niles. It’s fucking scary,” he said as he shuddered.

“Megalodon are the giant sharks you see near the surface, while a plesiosaur would be a long-necked aquatic dinosaur that is deeper in the ocean.”

“Ooooooh, yeah... No. I want the megachel…. The mega… _dammit_ , whatever the fuck you called it!” He replied with a huff of annoyance. “The fucking turtle!”

Niles let out the cutest fucking laugh Gavin had ever heard and he nearly keeled over on the spot from it alone. 

Dammit. He could feel blush painting his face and he glanced away to focus on the turtle.

“It won’t be as easy as you want it to be, Gavin. But I can certainly help.”

“What do I have to do?” He asked nervously. Suddenly, he wasn’t so sure he could do this. If he had pockets in his pants, he would shove his hands into them. Today, he didn’t even have his armor on, happy to roam around his little island in cloth pants and his tattered cloth shirt. 

“You must find the school of parakeet fish that should be nearby. Have them attack you and then lead them to the megachelon. They will then swim with her, then you will swim with her and this will tame her.”

“What if something attacks us?”

“That’s where I come in,” Niles proceeded to pull a shiny, blue box-like object from his utility belt. Gavin stared at it with raised eyebrows as Niles casually tossed the object into the ocean. Gavin dashed up to the water’s edge and peered in.

The enormous creature he rode when Gavin saw him sat stationary in the water, saddle and all. What the fuck? He looked over at Niles with a confused expression, “what the fuck did you do?”

“It’s called a cryo-pod, they allow you to store any creature in them for quick transportation. You can buy them from HLNA,” he explained with a smirk. Gavin squinted at the creature, before up at Niles. 

“Smug shit,” he muttered before he removed his shirt and pants. Niles watched him unabashedly, though he had a rather befuddled expression on his face.

“The hell you starin’ at? I’m not gonna get my clothes wet just to tame the fuckin’ turtle,” he spat out with as much venom as he could muster. Which wasn’t a lot, because his cheeks were flushed to hell. Why the fuck was he staring at him like that? Like he was fucking pretty or some shit?

“Have you not made yourself scuba gear for this expedition?”

“First off, it ain’t an expedition. All I’m gonna do is find the fucking fish and lead them to her. I don’t need scuba because it takes a lot to drown in this water.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Must be ‘cause you always got that tek shit on. If you get in the water, you swim faster and lose oxygen at a slower rate. I can hold my breath down there for at least 20 minutes without going blue in the face,” he explained with a smirk himself. Now who knew more? 

Seemed Niles didn’t go to the ocean biome enough.

“Well, you certainly know more about the ocean than I do,” Niles admitted with a wry smile. 

“I finally know more about something than you do. Fuckin’ crazy, I know. But sometimes even the biggest brains fail at some things,” he cooed back as he waded out into the clear saltwater. 

It was always warm, never cold. He wondered if the simulation kept it like that, or if the sun actually kept it warm? 

Every time he stepped into the ocean, a strange sensation always swept over him, as if he was frightened. It was an instinctual response of some sort. An inherent fear from his past, perhaps. It was frustrating, to say the least. Why did the ocean scare him? Was it the actual ocean or just water in general? Did Gavin have a fear of drowning in a past life? 

His fists clenched at his sides as the water lapped at his hips, soaking his briefs. Always warm. Never cold. But his teeth still chattered. What was below the surface? He should feel safe with that gigantic beast that Niles planned to ride, but he didn’t.

“I will follow you below the surface while you search for the fish. It should not be hard, they don’t like humans and will attack on sight,” Niles told him, and Gavin swiftly steeled himself for the task ahead.

His shoulders tensed up, but he nodded, “got it.” His voice was tight, teeth clenched together as he finally willed his legs to work. He dove beneath the surface and rubbed his eyes a few times before he opened them.

The water was almost as clear as it would have been if he was above it. The only difference was that there was a cyan tint to the underwater world, no doubt thanks to the actual water being a gorgeous shade of caribbean blue.

The ocean was beautiful, it always was when Gavin dove below the surface. Coral of different shades dotted the rocks, even some sea grass grew, making them soft to the touch. He didn’t explore down here often, but when he did, the flora always amazed him. The fauna, however? Not so much. 

He skirted past the sharks and eels, trusting that Niles would take care of him while he searched the water for the ‘parakeet fish’. It was hard to do when the only fish he could see were those derpy ones and then the ones that all attacked if aggravated, like if they were punched.

Gavin learned that the hard way.

How the fuck was he supposed to find a certain type of fish in the goddamn ocean? He was already getting a headache from it. Maybe he had to swim deeper?

The deeper he went though, the more dangerous creatures roamed. He wasn’t one for dying right now, his mental state was already fucking fragile enough. He couldn’t deal with that shit. Gavin pressed on anyway, listening for the familiar sound of Niles’ hulking beast fighting with predators above him. 

Even though Gavin could feel fear gripping him every time he swam down, there was something peaceful about the water. How it encased one’s body and all around, the warmth lingered. Like a blanket. He thought he would hate the feeling, but he didn’t. He found it almost comforting.

Just when Gavin felt like he should just give up, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Something shimmered and as it grew closer, he realized it was a school of miniscule fish. He squinted at them, right before they began to attack him. He let out a yell and got a lungful of water, coughing violently. 

Shit, shit, shit!

These had to be the parakeet fish, right? They attacked him on sight and bit the hell out of his arms. 

Gavin’s throat burned as water sloshed around in his lungs and made it harder to hold his breath. He needed to get back to the surface. But if the fish didn’t follow him, he’d have to make this trip again, and then he’d rather die.

Dammit, why was Niles always right?

Gavin made a mad dash towards the surface, and just as he was about to hit air, he fuckin’ bonked his head on the underside of something. He was so focused on not being attacked by sharks or the little fish that he didn’t notice the goddamn megachelon above his head, blocking out the entire sun.

The water had turned red around him, and Gavin worried that he might attract more sharks over and make it harder to tame the turtle. 

After a moment, he glanced around, expecting the fish to be gaining on him; but he found that they were peacefully swimming around the turtle, as though she was their mother.

His lungs were on fire and he clutched at his throat as he hauled ass around the megachelon and up onto the island that was her shell. As soon as he broke the surface, he coughed violently and gagged. He collapsed on the rock, scraping his knees in the process. 

Gavin pressed the palms of his hands against the shell and hurled up seawater with a groan. Fuck, he knew why he hated the ocean now. Goddamn seawater. He squeezed his eyes shut and focused on his ragged breathing.

He heard feet hitting wet rock and then Niles’ voice, “Gavin! Are you okay?!”

“Just- Just fuckin’ peachy, thanks,” he rasped out in a barely there tone. His voice was fucked. All that salt water made it agonizing just to attempt to talk.

“Well, I think she is appreciative that you brought those fish to her. It won’t be long before you tame her,” Niles told him as he approached and helped Gavin to his feet.

“Great. Why does everything have to sound so fucking clinical coming out of your mouth?” He leaned against him for support. Niles led him over to his creature and helped Gavin settle on the large saddle.

“It is just how I speak, Gavin. What would you rather me say?”

“Well first off, taming sounds so fucking cold. I want to befriend her, not tame her. She’s a living creature.”

“A wild animal,” Niles retorted bluntly.

“You gonna call me a wild animal just because I live out here on the ocean with nothing else but my raptors and my bloodstalker?” He growled out as they swam beside the megachelon slowly. Gavin criss-crossed his legs and huffed in annoyance.

“Don’t pout, Gavin. You do not count as a wild animal. She is merely a wild animal because she could kill you in two bites if you accidentally punched her. If I were to punch you, you would bitch and moan, and maybe punch me back. But you would not kill me.”

“You don’t know that, prick,” Gavin grumbled back.

“Oh, but I do,” Niles smirked and Gavin ducked his head so the other couldn’t see the blush that sprouted on his face. 

Gavin heaved out an irritated sigh, “smooth motherfucker.”

Niles chuckled, but declined to comment, which only made Gavin’s face burn even hotter. He knew that he was suave, and he probably knew what he did to Gavin. That Gavin already had a bit of a crush on him. 

Even though they’d only met twice now.

It had to be something deeper, something from his past life. Maybe Niles was his boyfriend, or even an ex-lover that he was forlorn for. He had to be _something_ , Gavin could _feel_ it.

Didn’t really matter though, Niles would probably never see him that way. Probably didn’t get those phantom feelings like Gavin did, ones that he couldn’t explain. Gavin was probably just messed up in the head. They didn’t program him right in this shitty simulation. Or maybe one too many deaths just kinda fucked someone up.

He fidgeted on the back of Niles’ creature and played with his hands. Maybe he should stop bothering him, Niles probably had a lot of things to do without him calling on a whim. He didn’t even think he would come when he sent him that message.

“There, look at that. I think she has… ‘befriended’ you,” Niles interrupted his thoughts and Gavin jerked his head up like something had stung him. He scrambled up and looked over at the turtle. She had stopped and turned her head out of the water to look straight at him. 

Without a single thought in his head, Gavin stepped forward and tentatively placed a hand on her huge snout. She leaned into his touch before she shook her head and sprayed him with water. He sputtered and wiped his face before he chuckled.

Gavin let out a hum, “sassy fucker, aren’tcha? I like you.”

“Do you have a name for her?” Niles questioned, to which Gavin eyed the turtle with a contemplative expression.

The word slipped out of Gavin’s mouth before he even had a chance to think about it, “Maturin.”

When Gavin glanced over at Niles for approval, he saw that the man had a look of utter confusion on his face. He raised his eyebrows at him and tilted his head, “what’s up?”

“I’ve… heard that before. The name. But I’m not sure where…” he trailed off before he turned his head away with a deep frown.

Gavin whistled for Maturin to follow him before he sat back down on the back of Niles’ saddle, “I don’t know where it came from either, Niles. Just something that popped up in my head. It happens a lot. Memories from my past life, I guess. They probably fucked with my head or something.”

“We all get fragments from our past life, Gavin. It is normal,” Niles replied softly and Gavin sighed in relief. So it wasn’t just him. He wondered vaguely what Niles could remember. He had been here longer, after all. When he craned his neck, Gavin could see the downcast expression on Niles’ face. Whatever it was, clearly wasn’t thrilling. Or maybe he wanted his memories back just as much as Gavin did.

As they swam slowly back towards his island, Gavin saw some dodos on a different island. There weren’t anymore on his, since he killed them all for a source of food. That’s when he hatched a hasty plan, hopefully to distract Niles just a little. He placed a hand out in front of Niles to tell him to stop.

“Let’s dock on this island real quick, I wanna do something,” he told him, to which the other obliged.

He hopped off and pulled out his crossbow with a wicked grin. Niles followed suit with a puzzled expression.

“You see that dodo over there? Shoot it with a tranq arrow,” he told him.

“I don’t quite understand why we’re doing this-”

“To have fun, idiot! Haven’t you ever owned dodos before?”

“They aren’t useful unless we kill them for meat. So no, I have not.”

“Well, yer about to now, c’mon!” Gavin notched and fired the first arrow. It hit the purple dodo right in the head and Gavin made a triumphant ‘whoop’ sound in victory.

“Get that other one before it runs!” He pointed to the orange one that had begun to cluck in a panic and waddle away.

Niles hesitated before he sighed and notched an arrow. He shot it with perfect accuracy and hit his own dodo in the head too. They both went down and Gavin put his weapon back on his bare back and ran up to his.

“You got some berries?”

“What kind?”

“Mejo, preferably. The little fuckers love ‘em,” Gavin held out his hand and Niles helpfully supplied him with a handful of berries. He placed them down beside the dodo, who began to scarf them down without faltering.

“Feed some to yours, too.”

“I feel bad for it,” Niles replied as he laid the berries down for his own.

“Don’t, if these idiots run out into the ocean? Everything within a mile radius wants to eat ‘em. They’re gonna live a better life on my island with us.”

“Us?” 

Gavin only realized what he said after the fact, and now his face was bright red again. He sputtered as he tried to remedy the situation, “yeah! Cause… well, you can’t just leave me with your dodo and run! Gotta um… gotta come back to take care of it!”

He snuck a glance up at him and the soft smile on the man’s face was enough to make Gavin’s heart skip a beat. He reached out and punched Niles’ arm, “don’t get the wrong idea.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Gavin.”

As Gavin tried to decipher what that meant, the dodos woke up and ran towards them.

“You can pick them up and carry them. Very handy, as they like cuddles,” Gavin stated as he picked up the dodo and allowed it to nestle its dopey face right against his neck.

“They are very cute. In a weird way. Kind of like you, Gavin.” Niles picked up his as well and turned his blue eyes away from Gavin.

Gavin tried his hardest to ignore what he said as they got back on his mosasaur and continued their travels back to Gavin’s island.

“Do you remember how you got here?” Gavin asked Niles casually. He wanted to know if maybe the people who created the simulation only took away some memories. Maybe Niles knew how he got here.

“I do not. I woke up on the beach just like you. My tribe had started a small base on the very same island you are on now. Welcomed me into their ranks. I can’t remember anything major. All I know is that I am brothers with Connor and Colin. But that is only because we all look the same.”

“Looks like we’re in the same boat then. Do ya think you wanted yer memories erased?” 

“I… don’t think so? I feel like I had a good life before this. I’m not even sure I willingly joined this simulation. Something keeps pulling me back. Like there’s an empty place in my heart that can’t be filled.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling,” Gavin pressed a hand to his chest where his heart was. He felt like that late at night. Like someone belonged next to him while he slept. Yet he couldn’t remember their face, and it was vexing beyond belief.

“So you trying to get out of here then? Gonna fight the final boss HLNA keeps telling me ‘bout?” He asked in a quiet voice. 

He didn’t want Niles to leave. What would happen to Gavin if they defeated the boss without him? Would he cease to exist? Would he wake up too? Would he be alone on his little island forever?

“Yes, that is our plan. We’ve asked the other major tribe within the simulation to help us. They’ve got many powerful creatures we’ve yet to tame. They are valuable allies that will be pivotal in our fight against the final boss.”

He turned his head away to look out over the ocean. It was late afternoon, approaching evening. 

The sun was shining against the ocean and the blue hues looked even more gorgeous. To think a simulation could be so beautiful, even though it was so fucking deadly.

He sighed and relaxed a little. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to leave this place. It was tranquil, especially where he lived. And something told him in his gut that he didn’t have that often in his previous life.

Niles parked his creature once they were at his island again and hopped into the water with his dodo still in tow. Gavin stood up and peered down into the water, right before the mosasaur disappeared under his feet, he hit the water with an audible splash. He let out a yell and held his dodo over his head as he kicked furiously.

“What the hell, Niles?!” He exclaimed as glared at him on the beach. He paddled his way over and hit the grass with his knees.

“Sorry, detect-... I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you would stay sitting on him while I put him back into his cryo-pod.” Niles chuckled, and Gavin had a feeling he wasn’t sorry at all.

“Yer a certified asshole, you know that?”

“Yes, it would appear so,” Niles sat down by the water’s edge and leaned back on his hands.

Gavin doesn’t hesitate to join him after he set his poor, traumatized dodo down and allowed it to wander around its new home along with Niles’.

“Here, you’re still bleeding. Drink some medical brew,” Niles offered the wine red liquid to him and Gavin took it no questions asked. He chugged down the nasty liquid and almost instantly his wounds began to heal up. Miracle liquid, this was.

As Gavin tried to soak in the sun rays and warm up a little from being wet, he noticed that the furry little creature that had been sitting on Niles’ shoulder had up and appeared again. It hopped over to Gavin like it had been waiting for him to come back and not its own owner. He watched as it put two of its hands together in a begging motion.

“The fuck is up with this thing?” He questioned as it went back to frolicking around them and rolling in the grass.

“It’s a ferox. I keep her around for protection. Her name is Duchess, by the way,” Niles explained.

He squinted at Niles, bewildered. How the fuck was something that sat on his shoulder supposed to protect him? It looked fuzzy, small and cute. Like it wanted pets. Was there something that Gavin didn’t know? Probably so, he really had no idea about anything outside of his little island.

He snorted, “well, Duchess is cute. You have a great guard dog, really.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a little while, Gavin just stared out at the ocean while Niles looked completely lost in thought. What did he think about? Did Gavin ever cross his mind? They had only met twice now, but there was so much chemistry between them. He could feel it. 

And he really enjoyed the other’s company.

Niles was first to break the silence, “do you ever feel like you’re… missing someone? That there’s a feeling in your gut that won’t go away? A loneliness that claws at you when you lay awake at night and can’t sleep?”

There was no ounce of hesitation as Gavin answered, “all the time.”

He leaned towards Gavin a little, shoulder bumping his.

“A feeling that goes away… when we’re with each other?” He whispered, face merely inches away.

Gavin swallowed, and his cheeks burned. Did it really go away when he was with Niles? It was hard to notice when he felt so good. It was true that he felt happier when Niles had come around, though he had to remind himself that this was only the second time they had met. Maybe it was just a fluke.

But he couldn’t stop his lips from meeting Niles’ halfway. When their mouths touched, sparks flew in Gavin’s mind and a pleasurable shiver traveled up his spine.

It was as if their mouths fit perfectly together, as if they were made for one another. Gavin reached up to hesitantly place a hand on Niles’ cheek and pull him further into the kiss. He did the same, curling his fingers in Gavin’s hair and eliciting a moan from him.

Before it could get any more heated, Gavin heard the familiar sound of someone teleporting into the region and Niles immediately broke off the kiss to look up towards one of the teleport areas.

He let out an irritated groan and flopped back into the grass, to which Niles chuckled and placed another kiss on his forehead. As the man stood, Gavin managed to get a rather nice view of his ass in that armor.

“Connor and Hank need my help. I must apologize Gavin.”

“Apologize for what, dipshit? You just fucking kissed me and I really enjoyed it.” Gavin eyed him from his position on the ground.

Niles smiled lovingly and Gavin’s heart went all a-flutter.

“Then I suppose I have nothing to apologize for.”


	4. The Arctic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snow isn't really Gavin's thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not everything in this chapter is concurrent with how Ark works mechanical wise. But more real-life wise. I wanted to add more drama, and Ark isn't exactly always realistic lol.

### The Arctic:

If Gavin knew one thing for sure, it was that he hated the cold more than he hated the ocean. Something about his fingers and toes turning blue and falling off made him less inclined to be within the freezing temperatures. But he promised Niles he would join him in the arctic region and he wouldn’t back out now. Not when he barely got to spend time with the man at all.

“There are few missions we haven’t completed in this biome already, but let’s split up just in case and cover each area to make sure we didn’t miss any,” Connor stated as he glanced over at Niles and Gavin. He sported a frown as he noticed them huddled together. It seemed he didn’t like Gavin much, and he had an inkling that maybe they weren’t on best terms before they were all thrown into the simulation.

“Thanks for letting me borrow some fur armor,” Gavin muttered as his teeth chattered. 

Niles rubbed his back and nodded his head, “I would hate for you to turn into a popsicle while we are out here. I quite enjoy you warm and pliable.”

“I can’t tell if that was a compliment or not.”

“You are free to interpret it however you see fit,” Niles smiled pleasantly at him and if Gavin’s cheeks weren’t already red from the cold, they would be now.

“S-so, what did you bring to ride today? Some kind of huge ass monster?” He steered the subject away from his embarrassment.

“Close, Gavin. Here, I’ll show you.” Niles threw out one of his cryo-pods and Gavin looked up in time to spot a rather tall, fluffy dinosaur. It snuffled and stared down at them with beady brown eyes. Gavin took a step back and swallowed hard. 

“Meet Peony. She’s a yutyrannus,” Niles told him proudly.

Gavin had seen it all, truly. Why did this dinosaur have fur? Weren’t they supposed to be scaly? How did this make any sense at all? Had scientists been getting it wrong or did the simulation just do whatever it wanted and made up things? Sufficiently weirded out, Gavin climbed onto Delilah.

The raptor’s metal body was icy to the touch, and it soaked through the leather and fur of his armor. He shuddered and hunkered down on her while Niles’ led the way to where they were headed.

“God, it’s so fucking cold. I don’t know how you’re dealing with it in that tek armor,” he complained as they walked.

“Tek armor has insulation in it, it keeps my temperature regulated. I do not get cold nor hot,” he paused as he looked down at Gavin from his saddle, “this is not even the coldest area. There is one part of the biome to the east where it snow storms constantly. Few creatures can survive there so only the most dangerous of them live there.”

Gavin’s eyebrows furrowed and he peered up at the mountains blocking his view to the east. He guessed you would have to travel over the mountains to get to that biome. Right? Or could you just stumble into the snowstorm by accident and not realize until something dangerous was right on top of you? Or you froze to death?

“I think this is one task here,” Niles called down as they approached a frozen lake. Gavin looked at it skeptically before Niles hopped down beside him.

“We have been fishing here before as a task. But I believe there are two missions. One where I must dive below the surface to retrieve a few items,” he explained as they approached the metal mission marker.

“That sounds dangerous as fuck. What if your armor stops working and you freeze down there?” He exclaimed as he reached out and grabbed Niles’ arm.

“Then I will respawn back at the base and come back. It is not a big deal to die, Gavin.”

Gavin gave him a stricken, bewildered look.

_‘Not a big deal’?_

How could he say something like that when Gavin had died so many times and couldn’t even get out of his bed for weeks on end because of it? It was like a slap in the face and he huddled in on himself. His grey eyes darted away from Niles’ face and he shrugged.

“Whatever, I guess. Not my problem if you die anyway,” he mumbled before Niles gently pinched his chin and lifted his head.

“I know you are worried about me, but I promise it will be okay. I’ll be back before you know it.” Then, he leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to Gavin’s mouth. It sent tingles down his spine once again and he sighed against his lips. He grumbled and turned away to avoid that smile on the stupid idiot’s face. Luckily, when he turned back around, Niles had put on his helmet and he couldn’t see his facial expression.

“I won’t be long. Do not wander off too far,” Niles warned before he walked over to one hole in the ice and dove through it with a large splash. Gavin shivered at the thought of that icy water hitting his already clammy skin.

He mounted Delilah and ushered her away from the ice. He would prefer to not fall through because he wasn’t sure how thick it was. Delilah would surely turn into a metal popsicle if the ground collapsed beneath her.

Niles said not to wander too far off, but the area looked safe enough. And there was a huge metal structure jutting out from the ground that Gavin wanted to examine. He hadn’t seen something like that since the bog and even then, he never approached it because he wasn’t sure what it was. 

As long as he could still see the frozen lake, he wouldn’t be too far away.

Gavin steered Delilah towards it, his stomach knotting up when they got closer. He knew nothing about this biome or its inhabitants. He knew the yuty Niles rode came from here, but if that thing roamed around here, what else could be? He shouldn’t be leaving Niles’ side, but his curiosity got the better of him.

And curiosity killed the cat.

“Oh shit!” Gavin uttered suddenly. The metal structure was bigger than he expected, and underneath the thing was a rather large group of those little furry things. The one that Niles carried on his shoulder. His ‘protector’. A load of shit, clearly. They looked adorable. And not the least bit scary.

“I wonder how Niles ‘tamed’ his. You think I could get one?” He asked Delilah, who snorted and kicked her foot. She was uneasy, which would usually make Gavin second guess his choices. But how could these little fluffy things hurt him? He could just punt one if it got too close, right?

He hopped off Delilah, and she made a distressed noise and nosed at his back. He pet her cold snout soothingly before he approached one of the little things. 

It instantly perked up and hopped over to him as if they were old friends. Gavin had the instinctual urge to pet the thing. Maybe that would gain its trust? He reached out hesitantly to let it sniff him.

It grabbed onto his fingers with two of its tiny hands and flipped his hand around. It sniffed and sniffed, as if searching for something, before he threw his hand back at him with puny force. Gavin laughed, “yeah, sorry, I don’t have anything for you to eat.”

There was a pause after he had spoken and Gavin could see a fire start in those little eyes. A fire that instantly made him take a step back out of worry. And right before his very own eyes, the little furry creature grew and morphed. It grew three times taller than Gavin, arms expanding and becoming hard muscle. Not what he was expecting. The damn thing had a better six pack than Gavin would ever achieve.

Yep, he should be scared.

It emitted a gigantic roar, loud enough to practically shatter his eardrums. Gavin let out a yell and scrambled towards Delilah, who let out a cry of warning. Everything slowed down and Gavin hated that. The adrenaline that pumped through his body did nothing to stop those gigantic fists from slamming down on top of him. He let out a howl of agony as it knocked the breath out of him from impact. Fuck, he was going to die here. To think he had been doing so well.

All of his efforts always were always for fucking not in the end, weren’t they?

He put one palm up in an effort to stop the next blow. As if it would do much. 

There was a familiar hiss and he turned his head up to look at the source. Through the black dots dancing in his vision, he made out Delilah crouched above him. She snarled at the creature; her large, metal claws piercing the icy layer above the snow with an audible crunch.

She would die for him. It was as clear as day.

He grabbed her reins and threw himself onto her saddle. He wasn’t even halfway on before she instantly took off.

There was no way in hell Gavin would lose Delilah to that thing. They had to run.

He had no idea where they were. When she took off running, he lost where they came from. 

That wasn’t _fucking_ good. He couldn’t see the frozen lake anymore. All he knew was that when he turned around, he could see the hulking beast chasing them. Its eyes were glowing magenta, stark against its white fur.

Gavin gasped out raggedly, “oh _god_. I don’t want to die. Not again.”

Delilah pelted through the snow and kicked up flurries in her wake. He didn’t know how far they ran, how long the beast would chase them. He just knew that soon, he couldn’t even see a few feet in front of them. It was like they hit a snowstorm suddenly. 

Where the fuck did it come from?

“Delilah, slow down, dammit!” He yelled out over the storm. He wasn’t sure if she understood him or not, but the raptor slowed. She shook her head with a sneeze.

He was concerned, but it quickly dispersed as something roared near them. His whole body shook from the cold mixed with fear. Where were they right now? They needed to get out but he couldn’t see a damn thing.

Delilah stopped suddenly and Gavin almost tumbled forward off of her. He pet her neck to get her moving again, but it was no use. As he murmured soothing words to her, a shadow grew over him. It blotted out what little light poked through the snow storm. Gavin slowly looked up in horror at the creature above him. The same one Niles had been riding earlier. It let out an ear-splitting roar. 

It slashed its small hand down and smashed Gavin off Delilah as though he was as light as a feather. He crumpled to the ground and tried to force himself up.

This couldn’t be happening. _Oh god._

He looked up at Delilah desperately, who sluggishly moved to try and protect him.

As if one raptor could really defend him from a monster that large. 

He squinted at her and tried to gauge why his raptor was so slow, and it finally hit him. Like an icy shot through his heart. She was made of metal and tek. 

Didn’t machinery stop in freezing temperatures?

Gavin’s heart leapt into his throat as he made out the frost covering his tek raptor. She let out a weak croak, and he shuddered in his fur armor. 

“No, no please,” he choked out as he tried to get up. But that was useless, _Gavin_ was useless. His baby was going to freeze to death and there was nothing he could do. Delilah was one of the only good things in his life, if he lost her, he would be back to square one.

Gavin had grown attached to her.

He loved her.

He couldn’t force himself to move. Or maybe that was the frostbite settling on his limbs through the fur armor mixed with his injuries. He should run before he ended up dying, but all his thoughts were on the raptor currently bleating weakly at him. Tears ran down his face, warm against his cold cheeks. 

Hell was breaking loose on top of him and he couldn’t do a damn thing.

Before he could think of any way to get her out, to help Delilah, he was ripped up from the spot he laid. Gavin’s first thought was that he was dead, that the yuty had grabbed him, that he had just got his baby killed. 

But when his brain finally caught up with his surroundings, he realized that he was currently on the back of a creature, arms wrapped around his body. 

“Niles!” He cried out as he fought and pulled on the man. They weren’t on his big dinosaur, no. They were on something a lot smaller. A lot softer. How many creatures did Niles have?

“You’re lucky you did not freeze to death there. Are you mad?!” Niles spat at him and his anger made Gavin shy away. “That was the area I warned you about! You could’ve died! Do you want that?!”

But his stubbornness wouldn’t let him abandon Delilah. Not fucking ever.

“She’s back there, we can’t leave her. Turn around right fucking now!” He yelled at him as he fought in his grip.

“Who? What are you talking about?!”

“Delilah. My fuckin’... baby. My tek raptor! Please, you have to go back! We can’t leave her to die,” he babbled out desperately, his voice breaking halfway through.

“If we go back together, you will only be a hindrance. And if you die it will be my fault. I won’t risk it.”

“I don’t phckin’ care, I can’t just leave her there alone!”

Niles glared down at Gavin in front of him, before the mount they were on slowed to a stop. Niles hopped off and tossed a sympathetic look towards him.

“I will get your raptor, that I promise you. But _you_ must run, get out of the storm. Get back to the lake and I’ll meet you there!”

“I’m not just gonna leave you here alone! Are you fucking crazy?!” Gavin yelled out. He gripped the fur of the creature below him, fingers frozen even beneath his gloves.

“I am not alone, remember?” Niles nodded his head towards the ferox residing on his shoulder and Gavin’s eyes widened. 

He could still see the wild one in the back of his mind, how ferocious it looked. How it could have easily crushed Gavin underneath those giant hands. Now he knew why Niles called that thing his protector, alright. And he knew both Delilah and Niles were in safe hands.

The only two things he had in this shitty simulation.

“You better come back in one piece with my raptor or yer fuckin’ toast, Nines,” he told him with a trembling smile. He had to be strong, he had to place his trust in Niles. He was his only chance.

“Of course, Detective. Don’t I always?” That crooked grin could send his heart into palpations if he wasn’t careful.

Gavin watched as Niles fed his ferox something and it let out a howl loud enough to shake him to his core. He turned away and urged the creature underneath him on. He ducked his head and buried his face in the warmth of the fur. He just prayed this creature knew where to go because he felt the grip of drowsiness drag at him, threatening to drown him.

Soon though, the biting chill of snow sticking to his armor dispersed. Warmth from the beast below him soaked through his fur armor and helped ease his tense muscles a tad. It was hard to unwind though, when both Niles and Delilah were somewhere in that hell hole. Without him.

He shouldn’t have left them, but what good was he? At least Niles had his tek shit and that damn ferox.

The creature finally slowed to a stop and Gavin groggily lifted his head. They were indeed at the frozen lake once again, near a small shack set up. Why was Niles so damn good? 

Teeth chattering, Gavin slipped off the saddle of the creature and turned to look at it. A sabercat. Sleek and black. It stared back at him and pressed its muzzle against Gavin’s gloved hand. He scritched the cat’s head and let out a small smile. 

He knew one thing for sure. He definitely liked cats before the simulation.

“Gavin!”

Gavin turned around to spot Niles riding up on his beefed-out ferox. He hopped off from behind its neck and approached. He threw his helmet down and wrapped Gavin in a crushing hug.

“Are you okay? We need to get you inside by the fire. You will get frostbite standing out here!” Niles said as Gavin tried to squirm out of his grip.

“‘M fine, damn. What are you, my mother?” He paused and swallowed hard, “where’s Delilah?”

“Safe, in a cryopod. It will be better to keep her in there until we get someplace warmer to thaw her out and restore her health.”

The relief Gavin felt was palpable, his whole body relaxing in a way he didn’t think possible. He didn’t realize how tense he’d been until both Niles and Delilah came back safe and in one piece.

“T-thank you,” Gavin whispered out begrudgingly. But he meant it.

Niles broke out into a smile and nodded, “anything for you, Gavin.”

Blush broke out across his face and he crossed his arms with a grumble. No way he was going to fluster him again, fuck that. Gavin nodded his head towards the little shack and rolled his stiff shoulders, “let’s go inside then, dumbass. I ain’t waiting out here till my fuckin’ toes freeze off. Hope you got some wood for a campfire.”

Without waiting for a response, Gavin moved towards the shack and threw open the door. Once inside, he instantly felt a little better. Not warmer, but better. The place reminded him of his little shack in the bog. He wanted to strip out of his wet fur armor, but he knew he should wait until they at least had a fire.

Gavin turned to the doorway in time to spot the saber-cat coming inside along with Niles. He grinned from ear-to-ear as the cat approached him and laid down next to him. 

“Ebony is warm, you can sit with her until I get the fire going,” Niles motioned for Gavin to take a seat, before he crouched down by the makings of a fire. He pulled out some flint and wood to start it while Gavin took off his gloves. He made himself comfortable against Ebony and his fingers immediately dove into her short fur for warmth.

She let out a purr and nearly rolled onto her back as if she wanted tummy rubs. It was goddamn adorable. 

“That’s illegal, Ebony. I like giving tummy rubs,” Gavin whispered as he ran his fingers through the fur on her stomach. Her eyes narrowed in pleasure and more purrs erupted from her.

“You are supposed to be getting warm, not petting my saber,” Niles rumbled as he stood up. A fire roared in a small stone pit and Gavin scooted closer to it.

“Well then why don’t you make yerself phckin’ useful and help me warm up,” he complained with a grin.

“Yes, of course. Take off your armor then and get into the bed,” Niles jerked his head towards the cot next to Ebony and Gavin gladly obliged. He was fucking freezing and the wet armor did him no favors.

He stripped off the fur and shivered as cold air hit his body. He immediately jumped into the bed, grabbing the blanket and pulling it over himself. His fingers and toes were stiff as hell, probably frostbite setting in. Fuck the cold, he hated it.

“There is only one bed, so you must share,” Niles said as he began to remove his tek armor. Gavin had never seen him out of it. He knew the guy had to be ripped, but fuck, not to this extent. If he wasn’t so attracted to him currently, he might’ve been impressed.

“Scoot over then,” Niles told him as he sat down on the edge of the cot. Gavin shook himself out of his reverie and quickly moved over so Niles could lay down behind him. He shouldn’t be so embarrassed by this but- holy shit he was putting his arm around Gavin. Yep, alright, this was cuddling. Niles was spooning him. 

_Fuck._

“Am I warm enough for you, Gavin?” His voice was right by Gavin’s ear and it was dulcet in tone and so, _so_ deep.

“Fuckin’ perfect, actually. Thanks,” Gavin replied as he nestled down into the cot. After a few moments of silence, he glanced over at Niles with a confused expression, “hey, why don’t we just teleport out of here?”

“HLNA is frozen, the snowstorm messed up her circuitry. We’ll have to wait a while before she’s properly working again.”

Gavin laid his head on his arm and let out a tired sigh. Might as well get comfortable if they had to wait for that. Who knows how long it would take? He tried to ignore that warm feeling on his back and that constant heartbeat that thrummed against his skin.

This was nice, nicer than he’d like to admit. Niles was warm and pliable against him, like he was molded to fit against Gavin. This was ridiculous. He shouldn’t be as happy as he was. But he really felt at ease against him.

It wasn’t often that Gavin felt safe within this simulation, but right now? Warming up by a fire with Niles against his back? There was nowhere else he’d rather be. Even if they got here by terrible means. He wished they just would’ve done this without the dangerous occasion, but he wouldn’t complain nestled against him.

“Have you got any memories back since we last spoke?” Niles asked, bringing Gavin out of his calm thoughts. 

Gavin turned to stare up at him with raised eyebrows. It was a weird question to ask, but he wouldn’t judge. “No, not really. I get flashes sometimes. But nothing… real, I guess? Why? Did you remember something?”

“I have… remembered something, that is.”

“Care to elaborate or are you just going for that mysterious vibe, prick?”

“I wish not to elaborate, if that is alright.” Niles shifted and he almost seemed uncomfortable. No… embarrassed? It was hard to tell. The fucker never blushed.

“Okay, fine, keep your secrets. So what about your cat then? Where did she come from?”

“Ebony? Jericho, the enemy tribe, had set up traps near their camp to keep predators out. She was caught in one and managed to run away with it still attached to her. I ended up finding her and taking care of her until she healed up. And after that...well, she didn’t want to leave even when I tried to release her. I keep her in a cryopod so she’ll be safe.”

“God, yer like a knight in shining armor. The total goddamn package,” Gavin groaned as he flopped on his back.

“I’m not sure I understand what you mean,” Niles replied as he looked down at Gavin with a soft smile. 

Damn that face.

“Kind, caring, supportive. Handsome as shit, fearless. What don’t you have, you prick?” He replied as he covered his eyes with his arm. He couldn’t look into the man’s eyes while he said all that sappy crap.

“Adorable.” He felt Niles shift next to him and suddenly there was a pair of lips on his. Gavin’s arm slipped off his eyes and he wrapped it around Niles’ neck to keep him close. God, his mouth was intoxicating. How could someone feel this good?

Niles pecked his lips a few more times before he pulled back with a smirk, “I think you’re the full package too.”

“Oh shut the fuck up. Get off me, yer suffocating me.”

Niles chuckled and backed up a little, to which Gavin got up on his elbows.

“We should head back as soon as HLNA thaws. Our dodos are probably hungry.”

“You didn’t feed them, Gavin?” Niles let out a faux gasp.

“The little fuckers are getting fat, need to put ‘em on a diet. Didn’t think we’d be out this long anyways.”

“As long as you make me dinner as recompense.”

“Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed that chapter and the wonderful art drawn by CloverGreen! Here's their social media, please give them a follow! [ Their twitter!](https://twitter.com/kurobagurin) Also feel free to give me a follow on twitter and tumblr as well! [My tumblr!](https://pinkwebby.tumblr.com/) [My twitter!](https://twitter.com/Pinkwebbly)


	5. The Finale

### 

The Finale:

“What the hell does that mean?!” Gavin spat out as he glared over at Cain. The look-alike of Niles shrugged his shoulders and glanced over at the egg he was currently incubating.

“Exactly what I said. All these creatures are fodder. We’ve bred them to die. They aren’t real anyway,” he explained in an exasperated tone. As if it made total sense. 

But that explanation didn’t sit well with him. Even when Niles tried to soothingly explain it to him beforehand. They might just be simulated animals who don’t feel pain, but wasn’t it still cruel? To just use them until they die? Of course Gavin did that too, but he cared about his raptors, his blood-stalker and turtle. They meant a lot to him, he would do anything for them. 

But maybe that’s where he and this tribe differed. They will sacrifice to get back to the actual world. 

But Gavin would not.

A sick feeling settled in his stomach as Cain went over to where the egg hatched. He squatted down next to a baby T-Rex and fed it some meat. It was so fucking cruel. That animal would grow up big and strong and proceed to die to some all powerful AI that didn’t care about it’s life. Or it’s death. Not even its owner cared about it.

“It’s fucking awful,” he muttered, and he didn’t care if Cain heard him or not.

“I know this, but fighting the boss? Is more important than these simulated lives.”

Gavin rubbed his arm and shook his head with a frown. He didn’t want to agree with the asshole, but he knew that defeating the master AI meant they could be free from this simulation. They would never see their creatures ever again. They couldn’t bring them back to the real world with them. Would Delilah even be real after they left?

Or just a bunch of pixels?

“I am back, sorry about that,” Niles appeared in the house and smiled apologetically at Gavin.

“Your boyfriend has no backbone. Are you sure you want him to join us on this raid?” Cain questioned Niles tersely.

Before Gavin could coil his fist and aim a punch at that over-inflated head, Niles stepped between them and stated with a firm voice, “yes I do. That will be enough about that.”

“I have my raptors. Been breeding them myself. Got a nice pack now,” he interjected with a glare directed at Cain.

“He will be deadweight,” Niles’ brother replied bluntly, completely ignoring what he said.

Typical.

“Let’s go, Gavin,” Niles said simply, interlacing their fingers and leading him away from where Cain had placed down another egg to hatch. 

“I wish you didn’t tell me about your fodder. It just doesn’t seem right at all,” Gavin told him as they began to teleport to the ocean. 

Niles gave him a troubled look and nodded his head, “I will admit that it’s a bit unethical. But without them, we would not be able to defeat the master AI.”

“Is it really that powerful?” He asked in an incredulous voice.

“Yes, immeasurably powerful. It is the last fight before we’re allowed to leave the simulation. And they must want to keep us here.” Niles crossed his arms over his chest and chewed on his bottom lip. Gavin watched those teeth work over his lip before his eyes flicked up to his blue ones.

“I understand why you do it, but I still don’t like it.”

“You’re allowed to feel that way, Gavin. If you don’t want to take your raptors to the final fight, you can ride one of our creatures.”

“No, I know when we win, I’ll never see them again, anyway. Might as well use them for something useful. They been sittin’ ‘round my base this whole time, restless as fuck.”

Once they were back at Gavin’s base, Niles turned to him, “it is a morbid thought that we will sacrifice our creatures. But in the end, they are nothing more than software that’s simulated them.”

He waved him off, “yeah, yeah.” Gavin straightened up and went over to where their dodos were. They had made a little pen for them to run around in, because Gavin was afraid they’d run off into the ocean. After all, they had rocks for brains.

“It will be a long, brutal battle. With a lot of casualties animal-wise,” Niles informed him. He followed Gavin, and they both stared down at their dumb dodos.

Gavin wondered idly about what memories Niles got back. What they were about. He never ended up telling Gavin, maybe because they were about him? He leaned against the fence and silently watched his dodo peck at the nothing on the grass. 

“I know it is… difficult to think about, Gavin and-” he paused as Gavin pushed himself off the fence and headed towards his house, “where are you going?”

“Gonna do something. For the upcoming fight.”

“I did not expect you to be so willing to fight already. I assumed I would have to convince you,” Niles responded in a befuddled tone.

“Nah, you don’t. In the end, I know they aren’t real. Even if it’s a hard pill to swallow, I ain’t letting you go back to the real world with me.” Gavin grinned over at him as he pulled out some berries.

He chucked the berries into his cooking pot and lit a fire underneath it.

“Got your canteen on you?” He questioned, and Niles offered it to him. He dumped the water into the pot with a grin.

“You ever thought about dying your armor?” He questioned.

“Not really, it is not useful in any way.”

“Well, I want to look fancy as fuck when I go into this battle tomorrow.”

“A noble cause. How do you do it?” He tentatively approached and crouched next to Gavin to stare into the cooking pot.

“Get the berries and water boiling with either spark-powder, charcoal, or gunpowder. It’ll make a thick concoction that you can put on your armor,” Gavin told him with a smirk.

He knew more than Niles again. Score one for Gavin!

“Interesting. It would never work in real life, but then again, the simulation isn't really based on reality.”

“You’re damn right it isn’t! I can’t remember much, but I know for sure there ain’t no giant ass turtles in the real world.”

“You will make Maturin cry.”

“Nah, she’s a tough girl. She knows she’s in a simulation. She’s smarter than me,” he rumbled with a chuckle.

“Will dye work on anything else than armor?”

“Guns, melee weapons, tools, uhmmmmm….” Gavin glanced around, “could work on our dodos?”

“I’m sure they would not appreciate it.”

“Who gives a fuck? I want to paint yours pink,” Gavin exclaimed with a mischievous smile.

Niles' grin was enough to send Gavin to an early grave. How could he look so fucking cute while also looking regal as shit? He could feel his heart hammering against his ribcage hard and he wondered if Niles could hear it. Did he know how much Gavin really liked him? That he questioned daily if they were lovers in their past lives? 

His smile was contagious so Gavin’s face split into another smile, this one tender. The smile of someone who had fallen in love. It was fucking embarrassing. Niles made him so damn soft. 

How fucking dare he break his shell so damn easy.

God, it just wasn’t fuckin’ fair.

His thoughts all dispersed when Niles leaned into him and pressed those perfect lips against his.

That was it, Niles just dug Gavin’s grave and invited him to jump in. And Gavin wasn’t going down swinging, that was for damn sure.

He kissed back eagerly. Probably too much. Was he desperate? Desperate to just kiss Niles like the world was ending tomorrow? 

Honestly, tomorrow it _was_ ending. One way or another.

~

“You know, I swear I’ve heard the word Jericho from somewhere. You think they were some kind of mafia gang back in the real world?” Gavin questioned with a smirk.

He chuckled, “of course not. Markus is a very kind individual. He would protect his tribe with his life, though. That is the only thing that makes him fierce.” Niles looped his arm with Gavin’s and smiled fondly down at him.

At least he laughed at Gavin’s shitty jokes.

“Never met ‘em before. Should I be prepared?”

Before Niles could respond, they approached the meeting point. He could see figures standing there already. Definitely four people, along with a fuck-ton of creatures. God, that was terrifying. They didn’t even have them in cryo-pods. Probably trying to show off. Bastards.

Well, color Gavin officially terrified.

“Good to see you again, Connor. I assume your tribe is primed for our assault on the boss?” The guy in the middle approached first.

He wore tek armor too, and Gavin peered around him to see he had his fingers interlaced with a blonde guy behind him.

Their faces looked so damn familiar, and even their names made Gavin uneasy. He definitely knew them in some way before. But as much as he wracked his brain to remember anything, just a crumb, he couldn’t come up with a damn thing.

He couldn’t even remember Niles, who was most likely an important part of his life. In more ways than one.

“Of course, Markus. We are more than ready for this battle. Your tribe is prepped as well?” Connor tilted his head and gave his signature puppy dog smile. 

Gavin found that smile to be terrifying. Though he was sure people like Hank found it endearing.

“Most definitely. I will start the countdown.”

“Much appreciated.”

Markus retreated to his tribe, and quite frankly Gavin didn’t care a lick for him. But it wasn’t his place. The guy seemed too stiff, in his opinion. Too proper. The guy had like, three lives riding on his shoulders. Gavin would crack under that pressure.

Connor turned to them, and his smile instantly melted away. God fucking petrifying.

He leaned into Hank, who wrapped an arm around his waist. Everyone seemed nervous, even Cain. He paced next to Allen, maneuvering a sword nimbly through his fingers. How the fuck did he do that?

“Did you bring everything you require?” Niles questioned him. Gavin leaned against the other and laid his head on his arm. 

“I did. Not a thing out of place,” he mumbled as a teleportation bubble appeared over their heads. A million light particles in a rainbow of colors. 

Niles pressed his mouth to the top of Gavin’s forehead, “I love you, Gavin Reed.”

Gavin’s eyes shot up to Niles’ face. The array of lights illuminated it from above, and he could feel his stomach drop.

He didn’t even know his last name himself.

There was a bright flash of light, scattering Gavin’s thoughts to the wind. He tensed against Niles’ solid body and practically clung to him as they were teleported somewhere. They all knew little about the AI, what it did, if it had some kind of arena. 

Suddenly, the light dissipated, and Gavin blinked a few times to clear his vision. It was dark, so fucking dark. In the dim lights, he could barely make out metallic pillars with glowing tek marks spiraling up the sides. Where the fuck were they?

He felt like all he had recently was questions, and not a lot of answers.

He groped in the darkness for Niles’ hand, but the man wasn’t even against him anymore. He squinted to make out anyone near him. He could see silhouettes, but nothing absolute. He should try to reach out-

“Here’s our ultimate test, Gavin. Everything we did prepared us for this,” HLNA told him, and he nervously looked over at her.

Whatever she said next was drowned out by a loud, thunderous boom that shook the entire ground. Gavin slowly looked up in terror as purple lights shot out of the ground ahead and illuminated a very large, glowing, helmeted head.

They couldn’t even get up that high to reach it. How the fuck are they supposed to defeat a giant ass head in the sky?!

“ _Welcome to the final test — and your final moments of life! Struggle if you wish, but your failure is inevitable_.”

That voice shook the very ground Gavin stood on. It was distorted, like the voice came from the technology itself. 

It was man-made, not real. 

_Right?_

Gavin wasted no time pulling out his cryo-pods that Niles had let him borrow & quickly unleashed his pack of raptors because something was happening ahead. A fight had already broken out. He could see shards of light forming into an inky blob that charged towards him.

He whistled for his raptors to follow his lead and mounted Delilah. 

Fuck, this couldn’t be happening. 

_Where was Niles?_

As the blob took form, he realized it was a triceratops. But it was made entirely of something completely new. Black with glowing blue cracks across its entire body. They weren’t real, but made by the simulation. Were they corrupted? 

It didn’t matter because it charged straight for him. He had to kill it.

Gavin heard a roar across the battlefield and it instantly buffed his raptors. That was Niles, he was here. Somewhere. Gavin had to get to him. There was no way he was going to fight this alone. He was already scared shitless.

He quickly killed off the trike attacking him, and he realized with a start that there was a person riding on the back of it. But it wasn’t… no, the person wasn’t real. They were too see-through, the same black and blue the creature it rode on was.

And yet his stomach still churned as he allowed one of his raptors to lunge at it and maul it on the floor. It exploded into a bunch of light particles and it dropped something on the ground.

Gavin reached down and snatched it up before he weaved through the fighting enemies to find Niles.

He looked down in his hands momentarily to glance at what he had picked up. It was some kind of key-card. What did they use it for?

Niles would know.

He _needed_ him.

He lifted his eyes once more and searched the battlefield for Niles. It shouldn’t be hard because he rode Peony. And she looked different from the T-Rex hoards that Cain commanded. But there were so many fucking rexes out there he couldn’t see a damn thing. He weaved underneath their legs, hoping to see those familiar furry ones of Niles’ yuty.

“God, what the fuck are these things?” Gavin yelled out as a raptor attacked him. Delilah let out a snarl and bit its throat out. It exploded into a million particles and dropped another card. 

“They’re called dinotars! Dinosaur avatars! The AI creates them to fight us!” Gavin looked up to spot Markus on a fucking hulking beast. A god damn rock monster. It bellowed and threw a rock at one of the dinotars that dared to attack it. 

Jesus fucking Christ. What else did he have up his sleeve? That thing could pulverize Gavin if Markus wished it too. 

He should have felt safer, but he didn’t.

There was a sudden flash of light again that caused Gavin to shield his eyes. He looked up at the giant head in time to spot it reel back. Some face-plates covering its head fizzled away to reveal purple skin, wrinkled from age and glowing purple eyes.

What the fuck was that thing?

“ _I altered the entire simulation for a new purpose: to find worthy servants who’ll appreciate the new world I’ll make. But you’re too rebellious — and thus unworthy._ ”

“Too rebellious? Mate, you haven’t seen anything yet!” HLNA yelled out.

Gavin threw himself back into the heat of battle, destroying anything in his way to find Niles. He had to find him. He had to know he was okay. 

“Niles! Where the fuck are you?!” He screamed out into the sea of different bodies. 

“Gavin! I’m over here!” He heard the response, and he was quick to follow Niles’ voice.

Niles stood on the outskirts, on top of a very bloody Peony. He fought off two raptors and a huge ass dinotar. Gavin had never seen a dinosaur like that in the simulation before. 

“I’m coming!” He yelled out as he charged forward. Niles probably didn’t need help, but his yuty had seen better days. The thought of Niles losing Peony made his heart constrict in his chest. 

They both knew the risk, though. 

Even if it hurt.

He aimed his raptors at the biggest creature, and they attacked it from below. Luckily, the beast was so big it couldn’t reach them. So it focused its attention on Niles and Peony. Which wasn’t good at all. 

_Fuck_.

“Niles!” His voice was shrill, “be careful!” He yelled right as Peony was killed. Her body slumped to the ground and Niles thrown to the ground with her. Gavin’s eyes widened to dinner plates and he weaved beneath the things attacking to find him.

 _God please, I can’t lose him. Not after today. I need to know who he is to me. I fucking love him._ Thoughts ran rampant in his head as he searched for Niles.

“Gavin, I’m okay. You need to back up, right now.” He spotted Niles hovering above the mess of things below him. Gavin shouldn’t be as concerned as he was right now. It made him realize how deeply in love he was with Niles, though. That just the thought of losing him now made it feel like his heart would collapse.

He did as he was told and fought off some raptors. He kept casting glances towards Niles worriedly, but he could see a cryo-pod in his hand. He had something up his sleeve.

He threw it out and right before his eyes, a huge dinosaur appeared. It was the same height as the hulking one that had been attacking Niles mere moments before it killed Peony. Was it the same creature? It was even more terrifying with actual skin and bone.

“You need to be more careful! I cannot be with you this entire fight, you dumb-ass!” Niles yelled at him from above. He’d never cussed at Gavin before, he was always so prim and proper. To hear those words drop from his mouth was like a kick in the gut.

He needed to get his act together, he could die out here and be left behind. All because his emotions got in the way. He shouldn’t be so rash, but he couldn’t help it. Tensions were high, everything was on the line. Of course they would respawn if they lost, but it would put them back to square one.

“Sorry! I’ll pay more attention to the fight!” He called back up as he narrowly avoided a triceratops charging him and Delilah. His raptors made quick work of it.

“You better, I’m not leaving this simulation without you!” Niles told him over the chaos. He then proceeded to charge back into the battle. The dinosaur's feet shook the ground underneath him as he ran.

In hindsight, it was probably a good idea to pay attention to his surroundings. Especially when they just discussed him paying more attention to the fight. But Gavin didn’t notice the simulated raptors running towards him till one tore him off Delilah. 

He hit the ground, and it knocked the breath out of him. He fought against the raptor’s claws and mouth. Gavin grabbed his pistol from his belt and pressed the muzzle into the black and blue mouth and shot. The thing exploded into particles and he quickly scrambled up.

Delilah and his pack were nowhere to be seen. And he didn’t have fucking time. There were humanoids approaching him, he couldn’t take them on without a mount. Gavin pulled out another cryo-pod and threw it out.

He mounted Captain Sucky and quickly used his web to latch onto the wall. He launched himself upwards and once they were dangling over the battlefield; he got a better view of how their chances were looking.

It seemed they out-numbered the dinotars and avatars currently on the ground. But how long would that last? How many waves would be thrown at them? How long could they last? He scanned the ground quickly for Delilah, but could not pinpoint her metallic form.

Where the fuck did she go? She wouldn’t leave him alone unless something serious was wrong. He needed to get a better look. Gavin looked upward in time to spot Connor and Hank currently riding Connor’s astrocetus. His space whale.

That thing could go up high, he could get a better vantage point from there.

He attached a web to its belly and swung below it while he searched the ground for any sign of Delilah. Gavin could make out some of his raptors fighting off hordes of T-Rex dinotars and reaper dinotars. They worked together just like Gavin taught them, and he was so proud.

But Delilah wasn’t there.

His heart felt like he was being squeezed hard by an unknown force. Delilah was nowhere to be seen. She couldn’t have died, could she? She was the only one that was there for him when he had no one else. She might’ve just been a part of the simulation, but to him she was family.

She trusted him, and he trusted her. Gavin wouldn’t trade Delilah for the world. She was loyal and loving. He wiped away a stray tear and straightened up. 

He had to be strong. 

For her. 

Because she gave her life for him. And saved his life more times than he could count. It was only fair that her life was not wasted. That they could defeat the boss and get out of this simulation. 

He cared more for her than she would ever know. She was the best raptor he could ever dream to have. A fierce protector.

“ _Surrender now, and I may be merciful. But keep challenging me, and I may unplug this entire simulation_.” That voice bellowed out once more.

It was clear everyone on the ground and even in the air were doing their fair share. Cain had been right, Gavin was merely dead-weight. He lost control of his raptors in the second wave. 

Did they have enough creatures? Was this feasible for just them? Did they set their expectations too high?

Gavin tangled his fingers in his hair and let out a groan. He couldn’t do a damn thing! Fuck! He just had to sit here waiting for the fight to be over. He couldn’t take Captain Sucky down there, he didn’t have enough health!

God, and where was Niles? Was he even still alive? It wasn’t that Gavin didn’t think he was strong, Niles was ten times stronger than Gavin could ever dream. But this battle was fucking brutal. Waves upon waves of simulated creatures fought them. And they got bigger with every wave.

“Connor, dammit! Watch out for the eyes! He’s shooting fucking lasers!” He heard Hank above.

“Do not worry, I have it under control! Just keep shooting!” Connor’s voice was strained, he was clearly driving the whale.

Gavin turned his gaze up to that simulated face once more, studying the detail of it. The helmet was totally off its head, revealing an older man’s face. Except it was totally purple with glowing eyes. 

And it was actually fucking shooting lasers from his eyes.

As if it wasn’t terrifying enough.

The head let out a throaty chuckle, and he heard HLNA shout, “why are you laughing? We’re the ones winning ‘round here!”

At least she had better quips than Gavin.

“ _Survivors. You. Are. Doomed_!” It roared and that voice shook Gavin to his core.

Gavin couldn’t stand not doing anything anymore. Worrying over Niles even though he couldn’t even see him. He quickly got on the back of the space whale and jumped down onto the platform. 

“Hank!” He called, “Let me use one gun!”

“Got a free one right here!” Hank yelled over the noise below. He pointed at one of the tek cannons attached to the platform on the whale’s back.

Gavin ran over to it and mounted himself on it. He aimed the sights down and shot at anything that was colored black and glowing blue. And it felt natural. Like he was born to shoot a gun. Maybe in his past life, he was some kind of cop? Someone who knew how to handle a gun, how to pull a trigger.

Because this felt comfortable, it felt easy. His aim was on point.

“ _You and I aren’t so different, survivors_.”

“I’m not some fucking prick trying to kill a bunch of innocent people you shoved in a simulation in the first place,” Gavin growled out as he shot at a rather large reaper king.

“Connor!” Hank yelled out before the space whale let out a deafening noise.

“We’re hit!” Connor yanked on the reins to try and gain control of the astrocetus. The whale blew purple sparkles out of its blowhole before the head turned towards them.

When Gavin stared into those glowing eyes, he could see nothing but malice. Hatred and pure venom. Who the fuck was this guy? 

Lasers shot out of those enormous eyes and went through the space whale. There was a rumble before the creature below them went limp.

Gavin had never thought of what it would feel like to free-fall. He assumed it would feel gratifying, in a way. But as it lifted him away from his position on the gun like he was made of paper, he realized.

That he hated the feeling of falling.

He tried to hold on to the handles of the mini-gun as the whale went down, but it slipped free from his grasp. Gavin let out a sharp gasp that stole all the breath from his lungs.

He looked up in time to spot Connor trying to reach for his hand. He had on his tek armor, so he could use his jet-pack. Gavin’s hand shot out and their fingertips brushed before Gavin plummeted.

Gavin couldn’t even form a scream as he free-fell towards the ground of the arena. He couldn’t believe he was going to die before they could get out of here. He would hit the ground and then wake up back on his little island. But he wouldn’t have anything, have anyone. They would win this battle and go back to the real world.

_Without him._

“ _Behold! Your demise approaches!_ ”

That voice was all he could hear as the ground approached faster than he ever thought possible.

His life was a series of misfortunes that all led up to this. Fuck everything. Even in the simulation.

From this angle, with his hair whipping around his face, it felt like time slowed down. He could see that ginormous face glitching in the middle of the arena, like someone did a hard reboot of his systems. 

Did they win? Was there more?

“ _Defeat me here, and you doom yourself. Wait ‘til I find you… in the world beyond…_ ”

Gavin closed his eyes and let whatever happened, happen. 

The last thing he saw was the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys have enjoyed this, I know I've had a blast writing it! I'm not really the best at writing action, per say. But ARK is very dear to my heart, and I'm glad I got to write this. Technically this is the end, but I do have an epilogue in the works ;>


	6. What Now?

### Chapter Six:

It felt different. Everything did. The actual world was nothing like the simulation. Gavin didn’t have to fight to survive, he didn’t have his creatures with him. He had Delilah, his cat. But she just wasn’t the same as Delilah the raptor.

He thought that when he woke up, he’d be in some sort of facility, like in Alien or something. Where they woke up from cryostasis or whatever the fuck they were in. But no, he just woke up in his bed. Alone. Like he never left.

And of course, the first thing he did was call Nines. They had to meet up. Because he missed him. More than anything. And he missed his memories of him. When they all came back, he realized how many of his memories had been missing and altered. He’d been calling Nines ‘Niles’ the entire time. All the times they shared were gone. Not to mention anything to do with his everyday life was gone. Down to what his mother’s name was.

After he called Nines, he was sure to call Hank and Connor. To make sure they were okay too. They sounded alright, and they could remember what happened too. Everything. It was a lot of memories to have stuck in his head. His simulated life felt like it lasted almost half a year. Were they actually gone that long?

Gavin grabbed his jacket and went to his car. He needed to see Nines, immediately.

They met up at a coffee shop, Gavin’s favorite. A lot of things were still muddled, but he could at least remember that. 

When he pulled up, he saw Nines immediately. He always stood out in a crowd, like he looked almost uncomfortable with people. In his white leather jacket and black slacks with his neatly shined shoes. Always looking professional, no matter where he went.

As soon as he saw him, he felt a sense of guilt. And Gavin knew why he felt that way. Guilty, because throughout the whole simulation he couldn’t remember Nines at all. Even when they actually met within it. And Nines could. He remembered who Gavin was to him before Gavin could.

He slowly slid out of the car and approached Nines with his hands shoved in his jean pockets. His guilt must’ve been written all over his face because Nines’ mouth twisted in concern immediately. 

“Gavin,” he breathed out before he enveloped him in a hug, “are you okay? How are you feeling? Any side effects?”

“‘M fine, Nines,” he tried to shrug him off, but Nines knew better than that.

“Something is wrong. I could see it on your face,” he replied in a murmur. His voice was so close to his ear, and it sent a shiver down his spine.

“Just feelin’ guilty, I guess. I couldn’t remember a damn thing ‘bout you, and I should’ve. Because yer like-” he swallowed hard, “yer like the love of my life, Nines. The guy I wanna spend the rest of my life with…”

“That is not your fault, Gavin Reed. We were forcibly put into a simulation where they did not want us to remember our past lives. That you remembered anything during that time is a miracle,” he replied in a firm tone.

His words soothed him a little. But it didn’t stop Gavin’s guilt all together.

“I’m just so fuckin’ relieved we got out of there. That we’re alive. That I get to see your ugly mug again and tell you how much I love you,” Gavin told him with absolute certainty. 

Nines smiled down at him tenderly and nodded his head. “And I love you too. Even more now.”

Gavin got up on his tiptoes and planted a smooch right on Nines’ mouth. He could feel the android smile against his lips, and he couldn’t help but smile himself.

Because it was over.

When they finally broke apart, Nines stared at him with a troubled expression. One that had Gavin taking a step back.

“Gavin… do you ever feel like this-” he gestured around them vaguely, “isn’t real?”

“The hell you talking about Nines?” He tried to laugh it off, but it turned into a weak cough. He scratched at his wrist idly. It itched, but he couldn’t scratch it in just the right place.

When Nines didn’t respond, he continued, “you’re real. Seeing you here, with me? Feels more real than anything has in a while.”

“How did we get back, Gavin?”

Gavin squinted at him like he just grew a third head. The hell does he mean by that? Of course, Gavin questioned it himself, but he just assumed they had been… well…

His irritation flared as his wrist still itched like hell. He yanked up his sleeve to look at what was bothering him. And that’s when he saw something sticking out of his arm.

It was in the shape of a diamond, and it glowed blue around the edges. He scratched at it furiously before he slowly turned his head up to look at Nines in horror. His stomach dropped.

“You’re right. We’re… we’re still in the simulation,” he croaked out. That had to be it. There was no other explanation. They couldn’t remember how they got back, and this weird fucking implant on his arm definitely wasn’t here before they’d been in the simulation.

Things felt too good, like this was all going to come crashing down around them. Gavin could feel it, but all his thoughts had been on Nines. He hadn’t even considered-

“Wake up, survivor!” He could hear something in the back of his mind. But he didn’t want it to be true. He didn’t want to hear HLNA’s voice again.

“I love you, Nines,” he whispered.

“I love you too.”

The world melted away, like water washing away bad memories in a shower. He blinked and blinked again. Nothing was real. And he would never escape the simulation.

“Don’t panic! I’ve got ya!” He could see her, HLNA. 

Gavin was no longer in front of the coffee shop he loved with the android he loved. But rather in exactly what he thought he would be. A fucking cryostasis pod. Head to toe in water, wires attached to his fingers.

“One second!” HLNA called out to him, before her robotic face disappeared from view. Gavin began to panic. He wanted to get out of the water, out of the pod, get the wires off his fingers. He tried to grab them, but they slipped through his fingers like butter.

After a few hectic moments, the front of the pod opened and Gavin was thrown out bodily. He hit the ground with a groan. Water sloshed all over him and he began to hyperventilate. This can’t be real. This was just a dream. The simulation didn’t know everything about his life and try to fake it to keep him within it.

“So! Good news! We passed the genesis simulation!” HLNA exclaimed as she appeared in his face again. “Welcome to the real world! The other survivors are still trapped in the simulation-”

Gavin looked past her towards a familiar face. It was Nines. He knew it just by looking at him. Blinded by sheer terror, he got up and threw himself towards Nines’ cryopod. Slipping on the water underneath him, he hit the glass with his full body.

He pressed all the buttons on the front of it, hoping something would work. He had to get Nines out. He couldn’t leave him in there. Not without him. Gavin smashed his entire palm into the display in hopes it would do something.

“Be careful!” HLNA warned before the pod opened with a hiss. Water rushed over Gavin and nearly toppled him over as Nines’ body slumped out and onto the floor. Gavin reached out for him and carefully cradled his head in his lap.

“Nines, Nines baby. Wake up. We’re out of the simulation. Sort of. Please, I need you,” he whispered to him, pushing his sopping wet hair away from his face. Nines had to wake up, Gavin couldn’t stand to have him in that simulation anymore.

Nines let out a sharp gasp, his chest rapidly rising and falling. His LED cycled from yellow to red to blue and back again.

“Gavin…” he called out weakly and Gavin’s heart soared. He pressed his hand to Nines’ cheek and kissed him until he was breathless.

“We have to get the others out, Nines. We’re all trapped in these fuckin’ pods. We have to get out of here.”

Nines struggled into a standing position with the help of Gavin and looked towards where the other pods were. Gavin was sure Hank, Connor, and more were still here. Stuck in a simulation doing who knows what. 

“Gavin! Nines! The corruption, it’s spreading! We have to stop it before it spreads even more!” HLNA told them urgently.

“The corruption? You mean like… what that head was made of?”

“Exactly! He looks like he’s corrupting the real world too! He could hurt your friends with it if we don’t stop him! You need to put on this tek armor!”

Gavin’s eyes twinkled as he looked over at the armor.

“Fuck yes, I finally get to use this shit myself.”

“I’m sure you’ll look absolutely handsome in it.”

“Sexy as hell, more like,” he grinned as he put the armor on next to Nines.

“Now that you aren’t so squishy, we should figure out where we are-” she stopped as the overhead lights began to flash and alarms blared.

Gavin looked around wildly before his sights were set on Nines. He couldn’t lose track of Nines.

“That’s not good at all!” She yelled as they all looked towards the other side of the ship. Wind pulled at them, threatening to drag them out of the ship as a large, corrupted tentacle slithered its way in.

Gavin squinted at it before it lunged at him and wrapped around his torso.

“Gavin!” Nines yelled before it ripped him out of the ship.

Oh _fuck_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading this! It has been a blast writing this for the Reed900 Reverse Big Bang! It was an awesome project and I had such an amazing artist to work with!
> 
> Thank you to MechanicalBones for beta'ing every chapter but this last one, you are a blessing. And thank you to CloverGreen for being an amazing partner through this whole event! And thank you guys once again for reading!


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